April 2, 2024 • 35 mins
Ep. 159 J. Byron is the Lead Developer at Woodlawn Central, a $900 million economic development project on Chicago’s South Side. The massive project will include a boutique hotel, call and data center, residential buildings, theater, urban farm and microgram. And, there are plans to integrate a lot of technology like AI, AR, and VR to assist with the community health, safety, education and tourism aspects of the project. And, they’re developing with the community, not in spite of it — this project focuses on economic development without displacement.
On this episode, the brothers speak with AfroTech's Will Lucas about Woodlawn Central's 'development without displacement' focus, how to build when you don't have all the money, and changing the perspective of a Black community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Check me out at the annual Black Effect Podcast Festival,
happening Saturday, April twenty seventh in Atlanta. Live podcasts are
on deck from some of your favorite shows, including this one,
Black Tech, Green Money, and also some of the best
podcasts in the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown
and Carefully Reckless. Atlanta is one of my favorite cities
in the world. I've lived there for two years. Actually,
in my worldview, seeing a successful in every industry and
(00:23):
not having any limits on our potential largely was shaped
by Atlanta. So to be there with you doing this
podcast talking about how we build or leverage technology to
bill wealth. Come on, man, doesn't get better. I want
to see you there. Get your tickets today at Black
Effect dot comback Slash Podcast Festival. I'm with Lucas and
this is Black Tech, Green Money. Jay Biron is the
(00:45):
lead develop brad Woodlong Central, a nine hundred million dollar
economic development project on Chicago's South Side. The massive project
will include a boutique hotel, call center, data center, residential buildings, theater,
urban farm, and micro grid, and there are plans to
integrate technology. A lot of technology like ai AR and
(01:07):
VR to assist with the community, health, safety, education, and
tourism aspects of the project in the developing with the community,
not in spite of it. This project focuses on economic
development without displacement. There's this pervasive South Side of Chicago
narrative that exists focusing on how rough it can be
(01:28):
in the stereotype echoes out of many majority black or
minority communities. But Jay Byron and his partners then just
let that perspective continue, but are actively working to change
it with entrepreneurial efforts. So what was the catalyst that
joven to engage?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
The media does a terrible job at representing the Chicago
go in.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Its true form.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
It's not even the top ten and most dangerous cities
if you look at statistics. But being that this is
a church driven project and the church has been there
for ninety years, both my grandfather and my father are
community activist, and my grandfather did about seventeen developments within Woodlawn.
(02:15):
Woodland is probably one of the most organized Black communities.
It really functions on four major pillars economic development, health, education,
and safety.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And so in regards to your question about safety, you.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Have to make sure that you are highlighting the positive
sides of.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
What can be within the community, and.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It comes from a private development space or a private
investment space. And so the more people from the community
invest in the community, the safer it becomes. So when
you have high economic development and safety, then you have
low needs for health and lower needs or higher needs
(03:02):
for education. And so you know it. In the media,
they don't do a very good job, but we feel
that when you invest privately into the community, it is
it is eminent that the economics become better for everyone.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So let's talk about that. For the people who are
not very familiar with Woodlawn Central, can you explain what
this project is?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Sure, Woodlawn Central is a catalyst development from a much
larger full community plan that we did in.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Pre pandemic, and we coined that.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
As a twenty sixty planet And so it's about bringing
culture and identifiable culture to what we understand is the
black community. And so when you look around and you
see Chinatown and Ukrainian Village and Little Italy and Retown,
there's an ethnic centric sustainability that we have not yet
(04:01):
been able.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
To benefit from.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
And we haven't seen this kind of complete community in
over one hundred years since Greenwood, but Woodland Central is
that future understanding of that future manifestation of if Greenwood
had never happened from.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
The devastation of it.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So we're looking at house not just housing, but also
commercial space. So with non Central is about eight hundred
and seventy mixed use sorry mixed.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Income housing, affordable to market.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Rate and some luxury, so two hundred and fifteen thousand
grow square feet of commercial space.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
We have a.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Business center which is consist of a data center and
a digital resource center that's focused.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
On aiar VR for the training and development for the
youth and adults.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We have a one hundred and fifty four key hotel,
a new headhouse for our transit.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
We have a micro grid.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It's about eleven thousand square for microgrid that powers the
entire campus itself. In some of the community, we have
five hundred and thirty thousand cubic feet of vertical farming
space which renders about three tons of produce annually.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So we can source for the community.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
As well as a distribution model. In Illinois, every grocer
has to source locally, so it's a really good model
for the community to not just benefit from food resourcing
but it's also a good economic opportunity as well. We're
going to replace the parking since the project is on.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
The church parking facility. It's about eight acres of parking.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
That doctor Brazier, after some coaxing, said, Okay, yeah, that
sounds good. I like the sustainability model. And so it's
it's a it's a it's a really large project, about
eight hundred and ninety five million dollars uh, and we're
real close to groundbreaking.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
And so when you think about you mentioned the micro
grid and other things, when you think about what's different
about this project versus many other you know, economic development
community development projects with your focus on integrating technology and sustainability, Like,
how are you hoping to change the outcomes for our
(06:35):
people in these communities when you rely on those sorts
of assets and features.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, that's a great question. One of the one of
the things that in our in our musing about the
development itself is we have to kind of leap frog
one hundred years of the lack of social and economic
sustains ability and then leap frog another thirty years into
(07:03):
the future.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Of which is you know, eminence of AI being.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Completely integrated within the next ten years, and so we're
going to focus on making sure that those who have
the ability to learn new skills and technology that they
benefit from that in a in a career startup, or
even a jobs process.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
This also brings social sustainability. As we're looking.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
At creating Woodland Central as a community innovation district, we're
looking at making sure that there's a digital master plan
that goes along with the physical master plan, which is your.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Plumbing and electrical and what have you.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So we want to make sure that we're setting up
the community to be an arm of a smart city.
So you have a smart city, but then you also
have a smart community that can access us all of
the information and make.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Sure that we are as up to date on.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
All of our technology, which really will help exponentially in
economic development and education.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
And so I found this quote from you in a
different story where you said technology is a tool and
it should be used as a tool and not a solution.
It should be humanity over technology as opposed to technology
over humanity. Can you say more about that?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Absolutely, I think everybody is really afraid of AI taking
their jobs and taking over and making decisions for us.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And I think that if we allow.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Technology to become the solution, then I think those things
will happen.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
So it's really up to us to.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Make sure that we are being thoughtful about the social
and economic approach that that looks at the immediate need,
the future need, and the extreme forecast to make sure
that these new technologies are that are coming up actually
fit into a model of our own sustainability where humanity
is always at the forefront of everything that we do.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
And I feel like though we.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Are building buildings, we need to also build people, and
in building people, we must have a humanitarian approach to it.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I love it. So as a tool, how do you
see these technologies enhancing both the resident experience and the
overall you know, economic ecosystem for the community?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Sure, the educator, I mean communications is probably I think
one of the greatest opportunities that create us to use
technology as a tool are smart buildings, being able to
access information as quickly as possible. Information is so fast
(10:06):
and it's going to become even faster, and to be
able to access information at the rate of which it
is coming out, and having the technology being able to accommodate.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
For anything that we need to be ready for whether.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's a blackout or another pandemic or you know, or
even an event, being able to use that technology also
to stay up on our bills, to stay up on
our utilities, knowing how much we're using and how much
we can say. And so it's it comes down to
(10:45):
mitigating the risk for the for the investors as well
as the developers and especially the residents.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right that, I was looking at your website and there's
this phrase in there, you know, development without displacement, which
I really thought was cool. And and you mentioned this
a little bit when you're talking about you know, building
on parking lines versus you know, taking over other housing.
And so can you elaborate on like the strategies maybe
initiatives that are in place to achieve this without you know,
(11:17):
the negative sort of gentrification that has happened in other places.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Right absolutely, the the my background in urban planning, one
of the things that happens a lot is especially within
our community, is people.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
From the urban planning side are don't look like us.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
And so they're coming in and they're really kind of
checking the box and they're saying, okay, talk to the community.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Check right, the community.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Is in favor check and really are absent of the
lived experience for us and for our community, and so
it's almost impossible for them to develop our community and
somehow it not affect us in a negative way. So
the idea of development without displacement is based on the
(12:07):
fact that it's development from the inside out. It's coming
from the community that says, here's what we understand is
our needs. Here are the things that we understand as
a process to uh plan development or urban development and designed.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Here are the things.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That we know that will need our children's children's children will.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Need within this process.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And and that that helps mitigate again the risk of displacement.
And because also that this is a church driven project.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
And I want to say this.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
That that I know, I know lately churches have been
kind of a complex conversation. But the church is the
only and longest standing organization within the Black community and
is also the only organization and that can do projects
at this level, and so it takes the church. Let
(13:08):
me say that the survival of our community squarely lies
on the shoulders of the church. And I've gotten doctor
Brazier to understand that in many different ways. And one
of the things that he has publicly announced is that
he's going to take ten percent of the profit of
Woodland Central and recirculated into the community as a CDFI.
(13:31):
So that way, when taxes and things do raise, just based.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Upon the.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Natural development process, that there will be grants and sponsorships,
scholarships for residents, current residents who.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Will be able to stay in their homes. So, I know,
I kind of you know, it's a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Of a longer story, but I think that we have
to thread the idea of displacement or development without displacement
really comes from the inside out.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, I was reading up on this and you talk
a lot about like sustainability, particularly in regards to energy generation.
Can you talk about you know, you mentioned micro grids
a little bit, but can you talk about what you're
doing with micro grid and and other efforts that you
might be working on here.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Absolutely, the microgrid is is really important and probably would
be one of the first things that go in. Even
though it's not one of those kind of like sexy,
you know buildings and you know, architectural type of aspects
to the project, it really is kind of the cornerstone
of the energy sustainability. As a data center, really takes
(14:44):
up a lot of power, and.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
So to make make the data center.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
And and the overall digital infrastructure makes sense, the microgrid
in and of itself is is really important.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
UH.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And one of the things that I like about where
the direction we're going in is we're actually creating a
command center that that uses uh the power and calculates
and analyzes how much power is going to uh the
vertical farm, how much is going to the residents, how
(15:23):
much is going to and and it's it's an opportunity
to do waste management and utility management.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
And without the microgrid, we.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Wouldn't be able to actually use those those kind of
technological tools without without having that level without.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
So I we talk a lot about home ownership, and
home ownership has been largely, you know, preached as a
way to build wealth, you know, generationally, and I think about, well,
I guess my question is how does Woodlawn consider facilitating
home ownership or encouraging home ownership, Like, how does this
(16:03):
opportunity play out so that the residents and people who
are taking advantage of what you're building, they're able to
build that generational wealth.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yeah, home ownership is really important to us.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Affordable home ownership is really important to us. As a
district development, We're not doing any single family homes, but
this development will catalyze additional development which will bring more
single family homes. But to your point of generational wealth,
I think I would be remiss to not talk about.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
The generational practices that lead to generational wealth and commit
and woodland Central because it's based in a culture over commerce, ideology,
or philosophy. One of the things that we want to do,
just intrinsically is make sure that we are creating processes
(17:01):
and procedures on how we operate one to another and
how do we buy trades, cell give, borrow, live, learn.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
All of these things come to play when we're talking
about generational wealth.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Uh and and so when you look at other ethnic groups,
they have antiquitous culture that they get.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
To rely on, which which which comes out in what
they call customers.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Right. So this customary way on how their kids raise
their kids and so forth and so on, and then
how they take care of their grandparents and.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
How they take care of each other.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I want to be able to utilize this as an
opportunity to begin to look at how we re emerge
into a holistic community that then at the end of
it becomes generational wealth and a self determination.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, and so I try not to position questions about,
you know, being a black real estate developer, how do
you work when is mostly white real estate developers around you?
But like, how do you how do you navigate this?
Obviously successfully and in the city as big as Chicago.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Yeah, So nationally there's about one hundred and twelve thousand developers,
and eleven hundred thousand them are not black, So we
are a very small.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Population within the industry.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
And so it is it is not for you know,
the fate of heart, you know, this process of development,
because you're dealing with with a number of different industries,
from the financial industry to the construction industry to the
community itself. And so I find it very interesting because
I get to deploy a lot of the international education
(18:51):
that I have, you know, from from you know, kind
of doing independent studies overseas and saying this is how
culture is built. So I kind kind of get to
start in a space, in a blank space that says
you don't know how to create valuation for the black community,
So let me show you how it's done.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And I'm not making anything up.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
What I'm doing is just mirroring all of the all
of the other cultures.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
That that that have a of having a purview of
a higher valuation, but utilizing that and doing it in
a way that is industry industry industry standard, and and
in in terms that these specific industries can can can understand.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So I make no small plans. And I think that's
the biggest that's the biggest thing to do because you've
got people, you know, they don't want to talk to
you unless you're talking about something, you know, above fifty
million dollars. So so you got to you know, aim
as high as you can in that space. And and
I think that's what really tracks investors and being a
(20:00):
to navigate.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Through some of the processes.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I want to talk about what you just mentioned
right there, because you know, people don't want to talk
about little bitty projects. And you know what holds up
so many black entrepreneurs or would be black entrepreneurs is
they see what it might take them to get started,
and you see these stickers of you know, it's going
to take one hundred thousand dollars to do this thing.
(20:24):
It's going to take a million dollars to do this thing,
and you got a nine hundred million dollar project here,
and it's kind of like, you know, or how do
you eat an elephant one by at a time? Like
when you see this nine hundred million dollar project that
you're embarking on, that doesn't mean you have nine hundred
million dollars in the bank, and so so how do
you so how do you put together the strategy as
(20:48):
somebody who doesn't have nine hundred million dollars in the
bank to say, you know what, this is what we're
going to do. These are the steps to doing it.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
First and foremost, you have to have a vision, right,
you have to you have to know exactly what you
want to do.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Our community is very is unique.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
In the approach because there's a there's a bit of
a lack of infrastructure that that other communities have.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So when we're looking at at how to.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Do other smaller projects that are black owned and driven,
they have to be catalyzed through.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Larger projects like with mon cential.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
So so so there's something referential that says this worked
over here, so therefore it can work over here. Because
when you look at it as a whole, it's the
condition that's the same.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
The location may be different, but we in.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Our community need specific things in order for for us
to be sustainable. And even if you do it one
piece at a time, it's okay. At the at the
onset of this where we're at right now, district development
is is really important because it doesn't just change the characteristics.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Of the community, it actually changes the condition. So if
I was a.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Smaller developer and I saw a project like ULN Central,
I would actually reach out to that developer and say, hey,
you know, where can I fit into this? Because I
know that if I'm a part of this, then I
can continue to grow.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And do things, you know, as big as what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So somebody's got to step out and do a nine
hundred million dollars project. So that way, we're setting the
precedents and we're setting the pathway for other developers, other
black developers to actually enter into the industry.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
You had mentioned we're talking about generational wealth that you know,
sometimes it's not about just home ownership, which is a
piece of it or could be a piece of generational wealth.
You said, sometimes it's like the activities and behaviors of
generational wealth. Can you talk more about that.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
You know, one of the things that when you know,
being being an age was really.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Kind of the thing that that sparked me about how.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
How they see each other, one to one to one
to the other, and the things that they do and
the practices.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
That they do.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
You know, I found that, you know, it was very
fascinating to me because being you know, from Chicago and
watching you know, this kind of homogenized group of people
be able to create such beautiful cities and create such beautiful.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Cultural aspects.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So it's about language, it's about food, it's about garb,
it's about dress. How do we how do we do
those things? And so I myself cannot create something that says, well,
here's what we're going to do, right, we all have
to say, here's a practice that we understand that is
contributive to the survival of our generational bloodlines from across
(23:54):
the board. And these are the things. Though we may
not agree, our agreement is not as important as our
contribution to the sustainability. And so there's a there's an
incentivization process within this critical mass that should be created
for us to understand that at the end of this
(24:15):
at the at the end of our.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Our agreement one to another.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
There is sustainability both socially and economically that we can
always rely. I can leave this world knowing that my
children are going to be okay, and and and and
having to you know, mind my own business. You know,
I'm okay with that, and and and contributing my gifts
and talents. I'm okay with that too. And so so
(24:43):
there has to be a spark, you know that that
that begins to get us to start thinking, you know,
in this way.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
How do you hold this what becomes a model across
the country and not just in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It's all almost like if I had a crystal ball,
I'd be able to answer that question so much.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Do you know, I mean, this is your wish, you
get to build it. You get to build a crystal
ball on this.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, okay, great, So I would I would hope that,
you know, with all of the different pro cultural programs
that we're doing in Woodland Central, you can always be
referenced and can always be used as representation to the
possibilities of what we are capable of doing for ourselves.
(25:32):
And one of the one of the one of the
things that I find really interesting when I'm talking to
certain people, they stay, well, where has.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
This been done before?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
And so there's no modern, you know, representation of this
since nineteen twenty one. So this is the beginning of
what a model could look like. And I'm always very
hesitant to say here's a model, you know, and use
this model because they think everybody is going to approach
(26:02):
what they do differently.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
But if you are using.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
The framework that we're doing, I designed it so that
each community can self discover on their basic needings.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
And so I've gotten into some economic development in my
hometown Tweet, Ohio, and we're going to go on to
a renaissance of sorts. And I was before downtown was
that renaissance started, the one that we're in now. A
lot of corporations started to turn their attention to downtown,
(26:36):
and residents started getting excited and saying, Okay, look, something's
finally going to happen, right, And so I was frustrated
might be the wrong word, but hoping that we wouldn't
just stand back and watch the show, but that we
would find opportunity to get in because real estate valuations
were going to go up because corporations were starting to
turn their head. And so my question is, how do
(26:57):
you not just be your representation, but how can you
provide opportunity even but also be representation to those people
who are going to be positively impacted by your work
so that they're just not watching the Jay Byron Show,
but they see opportunity for them to be part of
something bigger.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Well, first, I would I would want to render myself
available to those who are looking to achieve what we've
achieved here at what Mon Central.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
The information is free, right, and I'm always.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Willing to talk with developers and new people in real
estate to kind of give them and give them an
aspect of how I approached what I do. This is
certainly not my show. There are several.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Other people who you know, who are involved in making
all of these things happen.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
But you know, you have to know a lot about
a lot of different things when it comes to real
estate development, and you have to and it's almost the
industry itself is almost a red line as well.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Right, if we did not.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Own our own land, I don't think we would be
having this conversation because land is equity, right, And that's
why we never got our forty acres, because they knew
that if they gave us those forty acres we would
have our own equity, and then they also knew we
(28:34):
were capable of self determination and self sustainability as well.
So it's not that we don't have the ability or
we don't have the understanding.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
A lot of it has.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
To do with access and to be able to create
access through private and public partnerships with the state and
the city. The only thing that moves governance is visibility
and a critical mass.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
So this is where, this is where the.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Where the customary way on how we deal one to
another in the contributive community. How how important that is
because once a governor or a mayor or accounting president
sees all of these people galvanized not just from a
reactive sense, but from a proactive sense that says, we
have a plan, right, we will work with said developer
(29:31):
because they are what they are part of the one
percent who actually get capital, right, and we'll work with them,
but they're going to do what we want them to do,
not what they're going to tell us we're going to get,
because ultimately that's going to displace us anyway, right, So
we have to be very proactive in understanding the industry
(29:52):
and understanding you know how investment works.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
And I think finally, so when you look at where
you live and this is for this is your example,
but when other folks who are listening to this start
to think about what opportunities and resources governments provide, you know,
I think about where I'm at, State of Ohio. It's
a lot of resources for entrepreneurs and how do you
(30:16):
how do you tap in though, because that's kind of
sometimes the trip up is like we don't know where
that first phone call needs to be made or do
you have to be somebody to get the attention?
Speaker 4 (30:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So can you speak on that?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (30:29):
You know that's very layered. I mean you you want to.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
It's about partnership, right, and it's it's about a culmination
of different talents, and it's about having that unified understanding
that you know, we're all leaders but but but here
is the.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Vision that we all share and we are all talking
about the same things.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
We all want the same things, but we're talking about
them in our silos. Right, We've got to come out
of the silo. We've got an actual to become a
true network of economic development, health, safety, education, tourism, local entertainment,
international integration, diversity of management.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Legal accounting.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
We've got to put our we've got to put all
of our talents into the pot and then connect with
that that that advocate within governance, that says I will
advocate for you guys, but you but having the full
vision is really important, and having a big vision is
really important. And you know, I'm a I'm a I'm
(31:36):
a spiritual guy. You know, I'm a PK. So I
come from from that God sense. And so one of
the things that spoke to me in my spirit one
day as I was driving was you don't need permission
to share the vision.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
And so if we're waiting for permission to share our vision,
then we are.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Going to miss the window in which that vision was
given for us to share. And we're always really scared
to go out there on our own because nobody wants
to fall on their own sword. But if somebody is
not brave enough to say, look, here is something very
big that I've been thinking of.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Here's how I think it could be put together. You know,
who who's with me? Right? This there Jerry Maguire moments
like who's coming with me? Because this is big?
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Right and this is gonna and this is transformational, right.
We don't need transaction anymore. We need transformation. So for
the people who are wondering like how do I do this,
come together with the smartest people that you know and say, look,
I've got some ideas. I know you've got some ideas.
Let's foltron this thing together. Share it with the governor,
(32:47):
share it with the mayor, share it with you know,
our local reps. We started with our local state rep
who wrote letters for us on our behalf.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
But I had to show him something, you know, in order.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
In order to get him to get him, i want
to say, bought in, but to get him excited and
motivated about what the possibilities were, because nobody in development
was talking about micro grids and digital infrastructure and communications
and we weren't talking about that.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
We were just talking about building buildings and grocery stores
and affordable housing.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Just really being able to understand the landscape of our
community and the needs.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
And necessities of it.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
You know, that's that's really kind of you know, in
the in a few minutes that I have that, I
would say that that's what's going.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
To be done.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Black tech, Green money is a production of Blavity afro
Tech on the Black Effect podcast Network in Nheart Media.
Is produced by Morgan Debond and me Well Lucas. The
additional production support by Sarah Ergin in Love Beach. Special
thank you to Michael Davis and Kay McDonald. Learn more
about my guests and other tech disruptors and innovators at
afrotech dot com. Enjoy your Black Tech, Green Money, Share
(34:13):
this with somebody, go get your money, peace and love.
Check me out at the annual Black Effect Podcast Festival,
happening Saturday, April twenty seven in Atlanta. Live podcasts are
on deck from some of your favorite shows, including this one,
Black Tech, Green Money, and also some of the best
(34:34):
podcasts in the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown
and Carefully Reckless. Atlanta is one of my favorite cities
in the world. I lived there for two years. Actually,
in my worldview, seeing us successful in every industry and
not having any limits on our potential largely was shaved
by Atlanta. To to be there with you doing this
podcast talking about how we build or leverage technology to
bill wealth. Come on, man, doesn't get better. I want
(34:56):
to see you there. Get your tickets today at Black
Effect dot com back Slash Podcast Festival,
Check me out at the annual Black Effect Podcast Festival,
happening Saturday, April twenty seventh in Atlanta. Live podcasts are
on deck from some of your favorite shows, including this one,
Black Tech, Green Money, and also some of the best
podcasts in the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown
and Carefully Reckless. Atlanta is one of my favorite cities
in the world. I've lived there for two years. Actually,
in my worldview, seeing a successful in every industry and
(00:23):
not having any limits on our potential largely was shaped
by Atlanta. So to be there with you doing this
podcast talking about how we build or leverage technology to
bill wealth. Come on, man, doesn't get better. I want
to see you there. Get your tickets today at Black
Effect dot comback Slash Podcast Festival. I'm with Lucas and
this is Black Tech, Green Money. Jay Biron is the
(00:45):
lead develop brad Woodlong Central, a nine hundred million dollar
economic development project on Chicago's South Side. The massive project
will include a boutique hotel, call center, data center, residential buildings, theater,
urban farm, and micro grid, and there are plans to
integrate technology. A lot of technology like ai AR and
(01:07):
VR to assist with the community, health, safety, education, and
tourism aspects of the project in the developing with the community,
not in spite of it. This project focuses on economic
development without displacement. There's this pervasive South Side of Chicago
narrative that exists focusing on how rough it can be
(01:28):
in the stereotype echoes out of many majority black or
minority communities. But Jay Byron and his partners then just
let that perspective continue, but are actively working to change
it with entrepreneurial efforts. So what was the catalyst that
joven to engage?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
The media does a terrible job at representing the Chicago
go in.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Its true form.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
It's not even the top ten and most dangerous cities
if you look at statistics. But being that this is
a church driven project and the church has been there
for ninety years, both my grandfather and my father are
community activist, and my grandfather did about seventeen developments within Woodlawn.
(02:15):
Woodland is probably one of the most organized Black communities.
It really functions on four major pillars economic development, health, education,
and safety.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
And so in regards to your question about safety, you.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Have to make sure that you are highlighting the positive
sides of.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
What can be within the community, and.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It comes from a private development space or a private
investment space. And so the more people from the community
invest in the community, the safer it becomes. So when
you have high economic development and safety, then you have
low needs for health and lower needs or higher needs
(03:02):
for education. And so you know it. In the media,
they don't do a very good job, but we feel
that when you invest privately into the community, it is
it is eminent that the economics become better for everyone.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
So let's talk about that. For the people who are
not very familiar with Woodlawn Central, can you explain what
this project is?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Sure, Woodlawn Central is a catalyst development from a much
larger full community plan that we did in.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Pre pandemic, and we coined that.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
As a twenty sixty planet And so it's about bringing
culture and identifiable culture to what we understand is the
black community. And so when you look around and you
see Chinatown and Ukrainian Village and Little Italy and Retown,
there's an ethnic centric sustainability that we have not yet
(04:01):
been able.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
To benefit from.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
And we haven't seen this kind of complete community in
over one hundred years since Greenwood, but Woodland Central is
that future understanding of that future manifestation of if Greenwood
had never happened from.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
The devastation of it.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
So we're looking at house not just housing, but also
commercial space. So with non Central is about eight hundred
and seventy mixed use sorry mixed.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Income housing, affordable to market.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Rate and some luxury, so two hundred and fifteen thousand
grow square feet of commercial space.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
We have a.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Business center which is consist of a data center and
a digital resource center that's focused.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
On aiar VR for the training and development for the
youth and adults.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
We have a one hundred and fifty four key hotel,
a new headhouse for our transit.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
We have a micro grid.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It's about eleven thousand square for microgrid that powers the
entire campus itself. In some of the community, we have
five hundred and thirty thousand cubic feet of vertical farming
space which renders about three tons of produce annually.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So we can source for the community.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
As well as a distribution model. In Illinois, every grocer
has to source locally, so it's a really good model
for the community to not just benefit from food resourcing
but it's also a good economic opportunity as well. We're
going to replace the parking since the project is on.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
The church parking facility. It's about eight acres of parking.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
That doctor Brazier, after some coaxing, said, Okay, yeah, that
sounds good. I like the sustainability model. And so it's
it's a it's a it's a really large project, about
eight hundred and ninety five million dollars uh, and we're
real close to groundbreaking.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
And so when you think about you mentioned the micro
grid and other things, when you think about what's different
about this project versus many other you know, economic development
community development projects with your focus on integrating technology and sustainability, Like,
how are you hoping to change the outcomes for our
(06:35):
people in these communities when you rely on those sorts
of assets and features.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, that's a great question. One of the one of
the things that in our in our musing about the
development itself is we have to kind of leap frog
one hundred years of the lack of social and economic
sustains ability and then leap frog another thirty years into
(07:03):
the future.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Of which is you know, eminence of AI being.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Completely integrated within the next ten years, and so we're
going to focus on making sure that those who have
the ability to learn new skills and technology that they
benefit from that in a in a career startup, or
even a jobs process.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
This also brings social sustainability. As we're looking.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
At creating Woodland Central as a community innovation district, we're
looking at making sure that there's a digital master plan
that goes along with the physical master plan, which is your.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Plumbing and electrical and what have you.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
So we want to make sure that we're setting up
the community to be an arm of a smart city.
So you have a smart city, but then you also
have a smart community that can access us all of
the information and make.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Sure that we are as up to date on.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
All of our technology, which really will help exponentially in
economic development and education.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
And so I found this quote from you in a
different story where you said technology is a tool and
it should be used as a tool and not a solution.
It should be humanity over technology as opposed to technology
over humanity. Can you say more about that?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Absolutely, I think everybody is really afraid of AI taking
their jobs and taking over and making decisions for us.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
And I think that if we allow.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
Technology to become the solution, then I think those things
will happen.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
So it's really up to us to.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Make sure that we are being thoughtful about the social
and economic approach that that looks at the immediate need,
the future need, and the extreme forecast to make sure
that these new technologies are that are coming up actually
fit into a model of our own sustainability where humanity
is always at the forefront of everything that we do.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
And I feel like though we.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Are building buildings, we need to also build people, and
in building people, we must have a humanitarian approach to it.
I love that.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I love it. So as a tool, how do you
see these technologies enhancing both the resident experience and the
overall you know, economic ecosystem for the community?
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Sure, the educator, I mean communications is probably I think
one of the greatest opportunities that create us to use
technology as a tool are smart buildings, being able to
access information as quickly as possible. Information is so fast
(10:06):
and it's going to become even faster, and to be
able to access information at the rate of which it
is coming out, and having the technology being able to accommodate.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
For anything that we need to be ready for whether.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
It's a blackout or another pandemic or you know, or
even an event, being able to use that technology also
to stay up on our bills, to stay up on
our utilities, knowing how much we're using and how much
we can say. And so it's it comes down to
(10:45):
mitigating the risk for the for the investors as well
as the developers and especially the residents.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right that, I was looking at your website and there's
this phrase in there, you know, development without displacement, which
I really thought was cool. And and you mentioned this
a little bit when you're talking about you know, building
on parking lines versus you know, taking over other housing.
And so can you elaborate on like the strategies maybe
initiatives that are in place to achieve this without you know,
(11:17):
the negative sort of gentrification that has happened in other places.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Right absolutely, the the my background in urban planning, one
of the things that happens a lot is especially within
our community, is people.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
From the urban planning side are don't look like us.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
And so they're coming in and they're really kind of
checking the box and they're saying, okay, talk to the community.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
Check right, the community.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Is in favor check and really are absent of the
lived experience for us and for our community, and so
it's almost impossible for them to develop our community and
somehow it not affect us in a negative way. So
the idea of development without displacement is based on the
(12:07):
fact that it's development from the inside out. It's coming
from the community that says, here's what we understand is
our needs. Here are the things that we understand as
a process to uh plan development or urban development and designed.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Here are the things.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
That we know that will need our children's children's children will.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Need within this process.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
And and that that helps mitigate again the risk of displacement.
And because also that this is a church driven project.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
And I want to say this.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
That that I know, I know lately churches have been
kind of a complex conversation. But the church is the
only and longest standing organization within the Black community and
is also the only organization and that can do projects
at this level, and so it takes the church. Let
(13:08):
me say that the survival of our community squarely lies
on the shoulders of the church. And I've gotten doctor
Brazier to understand that in many different ways. And one
of the things that he has publicly announced is that
he's going to take ten percent of the profit of
Woodland Central and recirculated into the community as a CDFI.
(13:31):
So that way, when taxes and things do raise, just based.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
Upon the.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Natural development process, that there will be grants and sponsorships,
scholarships for residents, current residents who.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Will be able to stay in their homes. So, I know,
I kind of you know, it's a little bit.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Of a longer story, but I think that we have
to thread the idea of displacement or development without displacement
really comes from the inside out.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Yeah, I was reading up on this and you talk
a lot about like sustainability, particularly in regards to energy generation.
Can you talk about you know, you mentioned micro grids
a little bit, but can you talk about what you're
doing with micro grid and and other efforts that you
might be working on here.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Absolutely, the microgrid is is really important and probably would
be one of the first things that go in. Even
though it's not one of those kind of like sexy,
you know buildings and you know, architectural type of aspects
to the project, it really is kind of the cornerstone
of the energy sustainability. As a data center, really takes
(14:44):
up a lot of power, and.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
So to make make the data center.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
And and the overall digital infrastructure makes sense, the microgrid
in and of itself is is really important.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
UH.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And one of the things that I like about where
the direction we're going in is we're actually creating a
command center that that uses uh the power and calculates
and analyzes how much power is going to uh the
vertical farm, how much is going to the residents, how
(15:23):
much is going to and and it's it's an opportunity
to do waste management and utility management.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
And without the microgrid, we.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Wouldn't be able to actually use those those kind of
technological tools without without having that level without.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
So I we talk a lot about home ownership, and
home ownership has been largely, you know, preached as a
way to build wealth, you know, generationally, and I think about, well,
I guess my question is how does Woodlawn consider facilitating
home ownership or encouraging home ownership, Like, how does this
(16:03):
opportunity play out so that the residents and people who
are taking advantage of what you're building, they're able to
build that generational wealth.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yeah, home ownership is really important to us.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Affordable home ownership is really important to us. As a
district development, We're not doing any single family homes, but
this development will catalyze additional development which will bring more
single family homes. But to your point of generational wealth,
I think I would be remiss to not talk about.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
The generational practices that lead to generational wealth and commit
and woodland Central because it's based in a culture over commerce, ideology,
or philosophy. One of the things that we want to do,
just intrinsically is make sure that we are creating processes
(17:01):
and procedures on how we operate one to another and
how do we buy trades, cell give, borrow, live, learn.
Speaker 3 (17:09):
All of these things come to play when we're talking
about generational wealth.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Uh and and so when you look at other ethnic groups,
they have antiquitous culture that they get.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
To rely on, which which which comes out in what
they call customers.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Right. So this customary way on how their kids raise
their kids and so forth and so on, and then
how they take care of their grandparents and.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
How they take care of each other.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
I want to be able to utilize this as an
opportunity to begin to look at how we re emerge
into a holistic community that then at the end of
it becomes generational wealth and a self determination.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Yeah, and so I try not to position questions about,
you know, being a black real estate developer, how do
you work when is mostly white real estate developers around you?
But like, how do you how do you navigate this?
Obviously successfully and in the city as big as Chicago.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Yeah, So nationally there's about one hundred and twelve thousand developers,
and eleven hundred thousand them are not black, So we
are a very small.
Speaker 3 (18:23):
Population within the industry.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
And so it is it is not for you know,
the fate of heart, you know, this process of development,
because you're dealing with with a number of different industries,
from the financial industry to the construction industry to the
community itself. And so I find it very interesting because
I get to deploy a lot of the international education
(18:51):
that I have, you know, from from you know, kind
of doing independent studies overseas and saying this is how
culture is built. So I kind kind of get to
start in a space, in a blank space that says
you don't know how to create valuation for the black community,
So let me show you how it's done.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
And I'm not making anything up.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
What I'm doing is just mirroring all of the all
of the other cultures.
Speaker 5 (19:17):
That that that have a of having a purview of
a higher valuation, but utilizing that and doing it in
a way that is industry industry industry standard, and and
in in terms that these specific industries can can can understand.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So I make no small plans. And I think that's
the biggest that's the biggest thing to do because you've
got people, you know, they don't want to talk to
you unless you're talking about something, you know, above fifty
million dollars. So so you got to you know, aim
as high as you can in that space. And and
I think that's what really tracks investors and being a
(20:00):
to navigate.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Through some of the processes.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I want to talk about what you just mentioned
right there, because you know, people don't want to talk
about little bitty projects. And you know what holds up
so many black entrepreneurs or would be black entrepreneurs is
they see what it might take them to get started,
and you see these stickers of you know, it's going
to take one hundred thousand dollars to do this thing.
(20:24):
It's going to take a million dollars to do this thing,
and you got a nine hundred million dollar project here,
and it's kind of like, you know, or how do
you eat an elephant one by at a time? Like
when you see this nine hundred million dollar project that
you're embarking on, that doesn't mean you have nine hundred
million dollars in the bank, and so so how do
you so how do you put together the strategy as
(20:48):
somebody who doesn't have nine hundred million dollars in the
bank to say, you know what, this is what we're
going to do. These are the steps to doing it.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
First and foremost, you have to have a vision, right,
you have to you have to know exactly what you
want to do.
Speaker 3 (21:05):
Our community is very is unique.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
In the approach because there's a there's a bit of
a lack of infrastructure that that other communities have.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
So when we're looking at at how to.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Do other smaller projects that are black owned and driven,
they have to be catalyzed through.
Speaker 3 (21:26):
Larger projects like with mon cential.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
So so so there's something referential that says this worked
over here, so therefore it can work over here. Because
when you look at it as a whole, it's the
condition that's the same.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
The location may be different, but we in.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Our community need specific things in order for for us
to be sustainable. And even if you do it one
piece at a time, it's okay. At the at the
onset of this where we're at right now, district development
is is really important because it doesn't just change the characteristics.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
Of the community, it actually changes the condition. So if
I was a.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Smaller developer and I saw a project like ULN Central,
I would actually reach out to that developer and say, hey,
you know, where can I fit into this? Because I
know that if I'm a part of this, then I
can continue to grow.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
And do things, you know, as big as what you're doing.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
So somebody's got to step out and do a nine
hundred million dollars project. So that way, we're setting the
precedents and we're setting the pathway for other developers, other
black developers to actually enter into the industry.
Speaker 1 (22:40):
You had mentioned we're talking about generational wealth that you know,
sometimes it's not about just home ownership, which is a
piece of it or could be a piece of generational wealth.
You said, sometimes it's like the activities and behaviors of
generational wealth. Can you talk more about that.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
You know, one of the things that when you know,
being being an age was really.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Kind of the thing that that sparked me about how.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
How they see each other, one to one to one
to the other, and the things that they do and
the practices.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
That they do.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
You know, I found that, you know, it was very
fascinating to me because being you know, from Chicago and
watching you know, this kind of homogenized group of people
be able to create such beautiful cities and create such beautiful.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Cultural aspects.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So it's about language, it's about food, it's about garb,
it's about dress. How do we how do we do
those things? And so I myself cannot create something that says, well,
here's what we're going to do, right, we all have
to say, here's a practice that we understand that is
contributive to the survival of our generational bloodlines from across
(23:54):
the board. And these are the things. Though we may
not agree, our agreement is not as important as our
contribution to the sustainability. And so there's a there's an
incentivization process within this critical mass that should be created
for us to understand that at the end of this
(24:15):
at the at the end of our.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Our agreement one to another.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
There is sustainability both socially and economically that we can
always rely. I can leave this world knowing that my
children are going to be okay, and and and and
having to you know, mind my own business. You know,
I'm okay with that, and and and contributing my gifts
and talents. I'm okay with that too. And so so
(24:43):
there has to be a spark, you know that that
that begins to get us to start thinking, you know,
in this way.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
How do you hold this what becomes a model across
the country and not just in Chicago.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
It's all almost like if I had a crystal ball,
I'd be able to answer that question so much.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Do you know, I mean, this is your wish, you
get to build it. You get to build a crystal
ball on this.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
Yeah, okay, great, So I would I would hope that,
you know, with all of the different pro cultural programs
that we're doing in Woodland Central, you can always be
referenced and can always be used as representation to the
possibilities of what we are capable of doing for ourselves.
(25:32):
And one of the one of the one of the
things that I find really interesting when I'm talking to
certain people, they stay, well, where has.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
This been done before?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
And so there's no modern, you know, representation of this
since nineteen twenty one. So this is the beginning of
what a model could look like. And I'm always very
hesitant to say here's a model, you know, and use
this model because they think everybody is going to approach
(26:02):
what they do differently.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
But if you are using.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
The framework that we're doing, I designed it so that
each community can self discover on their basic needings.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
And so I've gotten into some economic development in my
hometown Tweet, Ohio, and we're going to go on to
a renaissance of sorts. And I was before downtown was
that renaissance started, the one that we're in now. A
lot of corporations started to turn their attention to downtown,
(26:36):
and residents started getting excited and saying, Okay, look, something's
finally going to happen, right, And so I was frustrated
might be the wrong word, but hoping that we wouldn't
just stand back and watch the show, but that we
would find opportunity to get in because real estate valuations
were going to go up because corporations were starting to
turn their head. And so my question is, how do
(26:57):
you not just be your representation, but how can you
provide opportunity even but also be representation to those people
who are going to be positively impacted by your work
so that they're just not watching the Jay Byron Show,
but they see opportunity for them to be part of
something bigger.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Well, first, I would I would want to render myself
available to those who are looking to achieve what we've
achieved here at what Mon Central.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
The information is free, right, and I'm always.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Willing to talk with developers and new people in real
estate to kind of give them and give them an
aspect of how I approached what I do. This is
certainly not my show. There are several.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Other people who you know, who are involved in making
all of these things happen.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
But you know, you have to know a lot about
a lot of different things when it comes to real
estate development, and you have to and it's almost the
industry itself is almost a red line as well.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Right, if we did not.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Own our own land, I don't think we would be
having this conversation because land is equity, right, And that's
why we never got our forty acres, because they knew
that if they gave us those forty acres we would
have our own equity, and then they also knew we
(28:34):
were capable of self determination and self sustainability as well.
So it's not that we don't have the ability or
we don't have the understanding.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
A lot of it has.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
To do with access and to be able to create
access through private and public partnerships with the state and
the city. The only thing that moves governance is visibility
and a critical mass.
Speaker 3 (29:03):
So this is where, this is where the.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Where the customary way on how we deal one to
another in the contributive community. How how important that is
because once a governor or a mayor or accounting president
sees all of these people galvanized not just from a
reactive sense, but from a proactive sense that says, we
have a plan, right, we will work with said developer
(29:31):
because they are what they are part of the one
percent who actually get capital, right, and we'll work with them,
but they're going to do what we want them to do,
not what they're going to tell us we're going to get,
because ultimately that's going to displace us anyway, right, So
we have to be very proactive in understanding the industry
(29:52):
and understanding you know how investment works.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
And I think finally, so when you look at where
you live and this is for this is your example,
but when other folks who are listening to this start
to think about what opportunities and resources governments provide, you know,
I think about where I'm at, State of Ohio. It's
a lot of resources for entrepreneurs and how do you
(30:16):
how do you tap in though, because that's kind of
sometimes the trip up is like we don't know where
that first phone call needs to be made or do
you have to be somebody to get the attention?
Speaker 4 (30:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (30:27):
So can you speak on that?
Speaker 2 (30:29):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (30:29):
You know that's very layered. I mean you you want to.
Speaker 2 (30:33):
It's about partnership, right, and it's it's about a culmination
of different talents, and it's about having that unified understanding
that you know, we're all leaders but but but here
is the.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Vision that we all share and we are all talking
about the same things.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
We all want the same things, but we're talking about
them in our silos. Right, We've got to come out
of the silo. We've got an actual to become a
true network of economic development, health, safety, education, tourism, local entertainment,
international integration, diversity of management.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Legal accounting.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
We've got to put our we've got to put all
of our talents into the pot and then connect with
that that that advocate within governance, that says I will
advocate for you guys, but you but having the full
vision is really important, and having a big vision is
really important. And you know, I'm a I'm a I'm
(31:36):
a spiritual guy. You know, I'm a PK. So I
come from from that God sense. And so one of
the things that spoke to me in my spirit one
day as I was driving was you don't need permission
to share the vision.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
And so if we're waiting for permission to share our vision,
then we are.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Going to miss the window in which that vision was
given for us to share. And we're always really scared
to go out there on our own because nobody wants
to fall on their own sword. But if somebody is
not brave enough to say, look, here is something very
big that I've been thinking of.
Speaker 3 (32:14):
Here's how I think it could be put together. You know,
who who's with me? Right? This there Jerry Maguire moments
like who's coming with me? Because this is big?
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Right and this is gonna and this is transformational, right.
We don't need transaction anymore. We need transformation. So for
the people who are wondering like how do I do this,
come together with the smartest people that you know and say, look,
I've got some ideas. I know you've got some ideas.
Let's foltron this thing together. Share it with the governor,
(32:47):
share it with the mayor, share it with you know,
our local reps. We started with our local state rep
who wrote letters for us on our behalf.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
But I had to show him something, you know, in order.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
In order to get him to get him, i want
to say, bought in, but to get him excited and
motivated about what the possibilities were, because nobody in development
was talking about micro grids and digital infrastructure and communications
and we weren't talking about that.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
We were just talking about building buildings and grocery stores
and affordable housing.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Just really being able to understand the landscape of our
community and the needs.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
And necessities of it.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
You know, that's that's really kind of you know, in
the in a few minutes that I have that, I
would say that that's what's going.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
To be done.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Black tech, Green money is a production of Blavity afro
Tech on the Black Effect podcast Network in Nheart Media.
Is produced by Morgan Debond and me Well Lucas. The
additional production support by Sarah Ergin in Love Beach. Special
thank you to Michael Davis and Kay McDonald. Learn more
about my guests and other tech disruptors and innovators at
afrotech dot com. Enjoy your Black Tech, Green Money, Share
(34:13):
this with somebody, go get your money, peace and love.
Check me out at the annual Black Effect Podcast Festival,
happening Saturday, April twenty seven in Atlanta. Live podcasts are
on deck from some of your favorite shows, including this one,
Black Tech, Green Money, and also some of the best
(34:34):
podcasts in the game like Deeply Well with Debbie Brown
and Carefully Reckless. Atlanta is one of my favorite cities
in the world. I lived there for two years. Actually,
in my worldview, seeing us successful in every industry and
not having any limits on our potential largely was shaved
by Atlanta. To to be there with you doing this
podcast talking about how we build or leverage technology to
bill wealth. Come on, man, doesn't get better. I want
(34:56):
to see you there. Get your tickets today at Black
Effect dot com back Slash Podcast Festival,
Host
Will Lucas
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