February 9, 1995

Contacts: Melissa Golding, Library of Congress, (202) 707-0802
Diane Powers, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, (202) 789-3508
Michelle Menchin, Aetna Life & Casualty, (202) 737-0337

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Media Advisory: Lecture and Panel Discussion on "The Emerging Force Of African-American Enterprise" Scheduled at the Library of Congress

WHAT: Lecture and panel discussion on "The Emerging Force of African-American Enterprise," co-sponsored by the Library of Congress Business Research Project, Aetna Life & Casualty, and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

WHEN: Wednesday, February 15, at 5 p.m.

WHERE: Library of Congress, Mumford Room, sixth floor of the Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue S.E.

WHO: Robert Wallace, an entrepreneur, business consultant, author, and lecturer whose ten-year study of successful minority entrepreneurs is documented in his recently published book, Black Wealth Through Black Entrepreneurship.

Robert Wallace is president and founder of The BITH Group Holding Company, a Maryland-based consulting firm that provides training in entrepreneurship, motivation and leadership. He has lectured across the country on the issue of economic empowerment and the importance of accelerated business formation within the African-American community.

A native of Baltimore, Md., Wallace earned an engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. While at Dartmouth, he initiated his ten-year study on minority entrepreneurs in conjunction with Dartmouth's Minority Business Executive Program.

Wallace is a co-founder of the SDGG Holding Company, The Atlantis Leasing Company, and The Ivy Group Consultants. Prior to forming his own consulting business, he held engineering positions with Westinghouse, General Electric Company, DuPont, and IBM.

Panel discussion participants will include Warren Thompson, president and chairman of Thompson Hospitality L.P., a firm that owns 23 Shoney's and Big Boy restaurants and other food service ventures throughout the Washington, DC, area, and Alden McDonald, president of Liberty Bank and Trust Co. of New Orleans, one of the fastest-growing African-American owned banks in the United States.

The Library's Business Research Project was established in 1993 with a gift from the Edward Lowe Foundation of Cassopolis, Mich., to stimulate entrepreneurship, productivity, and innovation, with an emphasis on meeting the information needs of small businesses.

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PR 95-021
2/9/95
ISSN 0731-3527