Milwaukee Professionals Association

CFNBA MONTHLY MINUTES - APRIL 13, 2005

May 10, 2005

CFNBA BUSINESS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING
Washington Library, 2121 N. Sherman Boulevard
April 13, 2005 ?– Minutes
11:30 AM ?– 1:20 PM

Present:
Maurice Hopkins - President
JoAnn Carter Hauser - VP Education
John Harris - VP Membership
Derrick Smith - VP Safety
Johnny Moultry Jr - VP Economics
Tish Robinson - Co/Chair, Cooperative Economics
Bill Hoffmann - Member, Safety Committee
George Calaway - Real Estate Advisor
Rafik Imseitef - Co/Chair, Special Events
Linda Chappetto - Recorder
Rufus Evans - Sergeant At-Arms
Mary Glass - Chair/CEO

Krystal Hardy - Strive Media
Rotonda Smith-Woods - Strive Media
Michael Dykeman - Dykeman Family Corporation
Phillip Katz - Katz
Bonnie Jackson Melvin - Arms Around Amani
Detective - Robin Estrada -- Sheriff Department
Deputy - Fred Gladney -- Sheriff Department
Officer Shellee Lubus -- 7th District
Denise Crumble - Medical College of Wisconsin
Mary Perich - Department of Commerce
Satwinder Singh - Marathon Gas Station
James Beckman - Beckman/Little League
Page 1 of 5

Introductions
Minutes
 Linda Chappetto, Recorder, briefly went over the minutes from the last meeting and Mary Glass, Chair/CEO, added that the boundaries of the association are State Street to the South, Capitol Drive to the North, 60th Street to the West and Holton Avenue to the East.

 Membership and participation are not limited to this area, but this is the area our work focuses on. The reason we focus here is that it is an NSP area or a Neighborhood Strategic Planning area, which receives Community Development Block Grants. These funds are helpful but they do not do everything the community needs ?– so we try and fill in by developing and recruiting businesses to move to the neighborhoods.

 If there is more business then there will be more jobs and less crime. This organization is bold, innovative, and informational. We try and engage the partners (residential, commercial and light industrial) to support the community.

 We adhere to the Kwanza principle of ?“cooperative economics?” by linking businesses. And we adhere to the principle of ?“collective work and responsibility?” by letting businesses and business people make connections so we can present unified solutions to our problems.

Teachable Moment
 Robert?’s Rules of Order
 Joanne Carter Hauser asked to table this issue until she has the chance to talk to the committee about it and addresses it in an abbreviated fashion at a later meeting.

Common Cause and Public trust with Action

 James Beckum came to ask for support for the Beckum Stapleton Little League Baseball Corp. This organization has been helping young people for 41 years. Mr. Beckum does most of the work himself, and they can use help. They need businesses to sponsor teams. You can contact him at 4213 N 17th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53209 or by phone at 414-372-5794. They can also use safety officers, player agents, and umpires.

CFNBA BUSINESS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING
Washington Library, 2121 N. Sherman Boulevard
April 13, 2005 - Minutes
11:30 AM ?– 1:20 PM Page 2 of 5


 George Calloway from Shorewest Realty talked about the benefits of economic development in the inner city. Developing business helps create jobs, but developing housing helps increase the tax base. George believes that we do have an untapped resource in the inner-city, which are the human resources of young people ages 15 ?– 30 years old. He believes we must train those young people or we risk losing them to unemployment and illegal activity.

 Mary agreed that we have many unemployed and underemployed young people in the inner city. She tasked George with coming up with some ideas of how to solve this problem.

 George also spoke briefly about the Lloyd-Brown mentor program. It is a development program that does more than build houses. Young people are also supposed to be involved in all steps of the building process, from all forms of construction to contracting.

 Tish Robinson, President of For Your Kids and Mine, spoke next. Her organization is a group home/living facility for between 12 ?– 17 young women who do not have a place to live because their family is not in tact. Tish is adamant that these girls be kept in the community rather than being shipped out to the suburbs, so they can maintain their connections to the community and to their friends. She got this idea from working as the Youth Director at her church.

 She has had trouble with Alderman Willie Hines, 15th District supporting her and returning her calls. After not returning calls for weeks, he appeared at the Board of Zoning and Appeal and ?“did not support her proposal?”. His reason was: ?“He cannot have any more living facilities in the district?”. People in the audience suggested that she go to the YMCA for help. They may have a different relationship with the Alderman and may be able to convince him of the merit of her program. She informed them of her visit to CPC-10, no avail; and, exhaustive efforts to get a return call from Alderman Hines.

 Mary assured the audience that Ms. Robinson has gone through the process exhaustively, and turned over every stone. A Motion was made by Mary Glass and Seconded for Tish request for assistance be taken to CFNBA Cabinet for response.


CFNBA BUSINESS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING
Washington Library, 2121 N. Sherman Boulevard
April 13, 2005 - Minutes
11:30 AM ?– 1:20 PM Page 3 of 5


 Bonnie Melvin, CEO of Arms Around Amani, spoke about her difficulty in getting approval for a block grant from the city Block Grant Office for her organization. She expressed her frustration to be with the process of fairness.

 She has older children mentor younger children. A Motion was made by Mary Glass and Seconded that Bonnie Melvin request for assistance be taken to CFNBA Cabinet for response.

 Rafik Imseitef, owner of Warehouse Electronics, spoke about his application for an expansion to his business. He wants to add an installation department for the car stereos he sells, which would create 6 well paying jobs for local people ($8.00 per hour). The Alderman was not interested in the proposal. The business has undergone major changes externally with fa?§ade and landscaping. Adding the installation part to the business would be great for his business and for the new employees, as well as the neighborhood. A Motion was made by Mary Glass and Seconded for Rafik request for assistance be taken to CFNBA Cabinet for response.

 Joanne Carter-Hauser, Vice President ?– Education, made a motion to try and get the Alderman in question to come to one of the CFNBA committee meetings so that Ms. Robinson, Ms. Melvin and Mr. Imseitef can address their concerns to him directly and in person.

 The Objection to Bid #32 was tabled. The objection is to how bids are generated, and there will be sessions of the DCD in May to discuss this.

CFNBA Business Opportunity
 Norma Balentine came to discuss PhotoMax. It is her company and they help enhance old photos, and they do computer work on digital photos. They store and preserve photos as well. These services can be especially useful in marketing presentations. There is a personal and a business use for the PhotoMax services.

Rufus Evans moved that we vote to extend the meeting by 10 minutes. Motion approved.

CFNBA BUSINESS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING
Washington Library, 2121 N. Sherman Boulevard
April 13, 2005 - Minutes
11:30 AM ?– 1:20 PM Page 4 of 5


Common Cause and Public trust with Action (cont.)
 Mary mentioned that she is trying to get more young people in the community involved in CFNBA and several young women were in attendance. Rotonda Smith-Woods and Krystal Hardy ?– Strive Media Institute with Channel 4, Gumbo TV. They are working to promote diversity through mass communications. They do this in three ways: print journalism (Gumbo Magazine); Video Production (Channel 4); Integrated Marketing (anti-tobacco campaigns and teaching students about media literacy). New Member.

 Denise Crumble, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine ?– Medical College of Wisconsin was also a representative. She was featured on the cover of the recent edition of Black Women 50+, which is a health and lifestyles magazine in the Milwaukee area. Denise was asked on behalf of CFNBA Safety Initiative. She spoke briefly on wellness and behavioral health approaches. One thing her department provides is mental health services to people with HIV. They are coming up with programs, testing them out, talking about best practices, and implementing good programs.

Operation Safety
 Officer Shellee Lubus, 7th District, thanked CFNBA for providing the ?“fruit?” for the Crime Prevention Conference held on April 2, 2005, at the Police Academy. They had 170 people in attendance and they will have another one in the Fall.

 Detective Robin Estrada and Deputy Fred Gladney of the Sheriff Department were in attendance. Deputy Estrada spoke about the importance of partnerships like the CFNBA and their work with law enforcement to keep the community safe.

 There are some new programs that they are developing: programs in schools, teen drunk driving programs, safety belt programs, a young mothers car seat training program, sexual harassment education, sexual assault education, senior citizen safety, and they help with safety at festivals and parks. They have three officers that cover the whole county. You can call Robin Estrada at 414-278-4781; Deputy Silvia Rodriguez at 414-278-3075 or Deputy Gladney at 414-278-3076.

CFNBA BUSINESS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING
Washington Library, 2121 N. Sherman Boulevard
April 13, 2005 - Minutes
11:30 AM ?– 1:20 PM Page 5 of 5


Guest Speaker
 Mary Perich, from the Department of Commerce, was supposed to be the main speaker today. But since the other program portions ran long she agreed to come back on June 15, 2005 (special meeting).

 She works in the Community Development part of the Dept. of Commerce, and they has a large # of programs that may be helpful for the purposes of CFNBA.

 Small Business Development grants are available, as are community development grants ?– and Mary Perich can talk about what projects can get in the way of funding. Mary was impressed with the cooperation and cohesiveness of the CFNBA group. She also touched on the need to bring jobs into the city, rather than out in the suburbs.

 SAFETY GROCERY BAG PROJECT ?– Mary Glass, Chair/CEO, Campaign Neighborhood ?– CFNBA talked about the safety and crime prevention project she was working on for Middle School students. She needed volunteers to go into schools and collect brown bags that children had decorated to express their feelings/observations about crime and safety. Also, representation at the 7th District and MPS Youth Conference at the Police Academy.

Next Meeting: May 11, 2005 Washington Library, 2121 N. Sherman, 2nd Floor

Someone motioned to adjourn at 1:20 pm and the motion was accepted.

Submitted by: Linda Chappetto and CFNBA Office