2021 Robert R. Church, Sr. Awards Luncheon

The MMBC Continuum & Memphis MBDA Business Center

2020 MED WEEK

NOVEMBER 9 - 13, 2020

MEMPHIS, TN 2020

Operated by The MMBC Continuum

Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum

ROBERT R. CHURCH, SR.

Achievement Awards Luncheon

NOVEMBER 13, 2020
Virtual Awards Program

the virtual business
experience

MEMPHIS, TN 2020

VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

EDF 2020

NOVEMBER 10 - 11 | Memphis, TN

THE MMBC CONTINUUM | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FORUM

Operated by The MMBC Continuum

Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum

ROBERT R. CHURCH, SR.
Achievement Awards Luncheon

NOVEMBER 13, 2020 | 11:30 a.m.

Virtual Awards Program

Robert R. Church, Sr. I Business Leader & Philanthropist

Robert Reed Church, Sr. was born on June 18, 1839 in Holly
Springs, Mississippi. From an early age he was known as an
achiever and he strengthened the belief of his attributes as
he became a businessman, a family man, a philanthropist
and a protector and helper of his fellow man. Church began
working on the Mississippi River at age 12. He began
saving his earnings and looked forward to the time when he
would have accumulated enough money to leave the river
and enter business in Memphis. The opportunity to fulfill
this dream and ambition presented itself after Mr. Church
escaped the river during the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862.

Mr. Church had implicit faith in the future of Memphis and established himself in
the city. At the close of the Civil War, he was a well known and respected citizen
of Memphis. His faith in Memphis was demonstrated many times, but as a result
of six disastrous yellow fever epidemics, Memphis lost its Charter in 1879. Church
was the first person to buy a bond to help pay the city debt. His $1,000 purchase
of bond number 1 helped pave the way for Memphis to recover and restore the
city charter in 1893. Church later opened Church’s Hotel at Second and Gayoso.
“The only first-class hotel in the city.” He built a park and auditorium on Beale
Street near Fourth & Turley. In directing the idea and construction of the facility,
he had the only business venture of its kind in America; built, owned and managed
by Church.

The first black millionaire in the city, Church was one of the founders and the
first president of the Solvent Bank and Trust Company, the first Black bank to
be organized in Memphis. In 1880, when the Beale Street Baptist Church, the
oldest Black Baptist church in Memphis, fell on hard times, Mr. Church and
Solvent Savings Bank stepped in and helped the members and trustees save the
church. Robert Reed Church Sr. died in Memphis, the town he loved and helped
sustain, on August 29, 1912 at age 73. The Colored American, a publication from
Washington, D.C., on February 16, 1901 wrote in part of Mr. Church: “He was
a self-made man in the broadest sense of the term. Had no opportunity of the
schools; he had no nucleus for wealth left to him by an ancestor, but with nothing
but his hands, he made his way to success over every possible obstacle.”

Mid-South Minority Business Council Continuum

Robert R. Church, Sr. Achievement Awards Luncheon
November 13, 2020

PROGRAM

Opening Remarks AWARD PRESENTATIONS
Jozelle Luster Booker M/WBE Quality Assurance Award
President and CEO Scalable M/WBE Business of the
MMBC Continuum Year
MBDA Business of the Year
Pitch to Pivot Contest Winners Corporation of the Year
LeTonya Cooper
Sourcing Manager, Supplier Remarks
Relationship Management Keith Norman
FedEx Services Vice President of Government
Affairs, Baptist Memorial Health
Brief Remarks Care
Jozelle Luster Booker Board Chair, MMBC Continuum
President and CEO
MMBC Continuum Closing Remarks
Jozelle Luster Booker

PITCH TO PIVOT CONTEST
Presented in Partnership With

FINALISTS

ABES Engineering
Emmanuel Tuombe, CEO

Action Chemical, Inc.
DBA ACTION Janitorial*Paper*Safety
Charles E. Barnes, President/Owner

Artizan Constructors
Kirby Salton, President
B Visible Products & Services

Larry Walker, Owner
Career Concepts, Inc.
Kamekio Lewis, CEO
Fresh Start Facility Maintenance
Johnny Fayne, President/CEO
Industrial Sales Company of Memphis, Inc.
Jennifer Richardson, CEO/President
Pete Mitchell & Associates
George Hilliard, President

Pink Promotions
Tish Tonole, Owner
TopCat Masonry, LLC
Robert and Briggette Green, Owners
Unistar-Sparco Computers
SooTsong Lim, President
X-Cel Business Products
Lonnie Yates, President

2020 ROBERT R. CHURCH, SR.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS NOMINEES

M/WBE NOMINEES
A-One, LLC dba A-One Staffing, LLC

Action Chemical Janitorial
Bean & Prince Contractors, Inc.
Campbell & Ford Construction
H & K Plumbing and Heating, Inc.

The Ransomed Group, Inc
ServiceMaster Facilities & Maintenance

Southern Sales and Services Co., Inc.
Tate Computer Systems

W&T Contracting Corporation

CORPORATE NOMINEES
FedEx Services
Flintco, LLC

International Paper
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Turner Construction Company
University of Memphis

A Community Leader
& Pioneer

MR. FRED L. DAVIS

On behalf of the MMBC Continuum Board of Directors &
Staff we extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of
Mr. Fred L. Davis.

As a co-founder of The MMBC Continuum, a successful
business owner and community leader, Fred Davis was a true
pioneer.

He served in many capacities on the board alongside corporate
leaders where he spoke freely, asked probing and challenging
questions, even when he already knew the answers.

We are forever grateful for his dedication and commitment to
see minority businesses and the minority community thrive.

His memory will forever remain!

With our deepest sympathy,
Jozelle Luster Booker
President and CEO

Fred L. Davis, Chairman of the Board

Jozelle Luster Booker, President and CEO
The MMBC Continuum

THE MID-SOUTH MINORITY BUSINESS COUNCIL CONTINUUM

2020 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jozelle Luster Booker – President & CEO, MMBC Continuum
Charles Burkett – First Horizon Foundation

Raajkumar Kurapati – CFO, Vice President for Business and Finance,
University of Memphis

Keith Norman – Chairman, Vice President of Government Relations,
Baptist Memorial Health Care

Gary Rosenfeld – President & CEO, Memphis Area Transit Authority
Laurel Williams, Esq. – Burch Porter & Johnson

Jarl “J. T.” Young – President & CEO, Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division

STAFF

Jozelle Luster Booker, President & CEO
Brandon Beverly, Strategic Business Advisor
Lawrence Browder, Jr., Manager of Member Registration
Brittney Elkins, Director of M/WBE Networking Events
Patrice Harris, Director of Core Development
Myia Nealy, Administrative Program Assistant
Natalie Robinson, Vice President and Director of Communications & Marketing
Janet Williams, Director of Corporate & Administrative Services

MBDA BUSINESS CENTER STAFF

Wanda Christian, Executive Director
Joyce Ores, Senior Program Assistant



The MMBC Continuum Operated by The MMBC Continuum
158 Madison Avenue, Suite 300

Memphis, TN 38103-2614
Phone: 901.525.6512
Fax: 901.525.5204

www.mmbc-memphis.org

Memphis MBDA Business Center
158 Madison Avenue, Suite 101
Memphis, TN 38103-2614
Phone: 901.528.1432
Fax: 901.528-1755