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ORLANDO, Fla. - The Orange County Convention Center resembled Wall Street during rush hour, as an endless river of African American men and women in dark power suits streamed through the 29th National Black MBA Association conference. Arguably the most dynamic and influential organization for black businesspeople, the NBMBAA facilitated more than 11,000 attendees and featured such panels as the Global Partnership Roundtable, sponsored by IBM, and the NBMBAA Leadership Institute, which was sponsored by PepsiCo. Over 500 major corporations and organizations packed the exhibit hall, and the conference featured speakers from companies as Darden Resturants, FedEx and Dell Inc. The conference, headed by NBMBAA President Barbara Thomas and Chairman William Wells, featured former NBA players Glenn "Doc" Rivers and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

One of the hallmarks of the weeklong convention was the NBMBAA Case Competition, which has been sponsored by Chrysler LLC and its vice president, Kim Harris Jones, since 1992. The Case Competition, which featured 30 teams from schools in a case study on the automotive industry, has awarded over $300,000 in scholarships to minority business students across the country and exposed over 1,000 MBA students to employment opportunities and mentorship programs. - terry shropshire

For more information, log onto www.nbmbaa.org.

Visit www.rollingout.com/tv for complete coverage of the conference.

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