Listen Up: The Best Noise Canceling Headphones Are $72 Off Right Now

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Black-Owned Truck and Bus Center Grows Larger With $15 Million Expansion

K. Neal Truck and Bus Center, a commercial truck and bus dealership serving the Washington, D.C., area, has invested more than $15 million to build a larger headquarters and expand its corporate facilities.

At the same time, the Hyattsville, Maryland-based company that is only one of two black-owned commercial truck and bus dealerships in the country, has acquired eight acres for its new headquarters and mixed-use land development. The project is part of the company’s efforts to support new commercial development vital to the prosperity of Prince George’s County.

Run by father-and-son duo Chairman and CEO Stephen W. Neal and President Korey Neal, the company generated $103.5 million in revenue in 2018 and ranked No. 35 on Black Enterprise’s 2019 Top 100s list, an annual ranking of the top black-owned businesses in the nation.

The business demolished the previous building it occupied for its headquarters since the 1960s, allowing it to complete construction on the new structure. The corporate headquarters facility includes all administrative functions including accounting, marketing, and finance. The company has multiple locations serving the Washington D.C. Metropolitan region.

Korey Neal says the new 40,000-square foot two-story headquarters and state-of-the-art corporate facility will allow the company to serve customers faster by expanding its service footprint capacity by 40%. The expansion enables the company to boost the size of its operations in multiple ways.

The company added four new trucks and bus bays to perform regular customer servicing on those vehicles. It also added two alternative truck and bus bays to service electric and propane vehicles. The company now will be able to serve more new and existing customers logistics, warranties, and financing of vehicles.

K. Neal Truck and Bus Center installed a new vertical lift modular, which functions similarly to a modern-high tech vending machine. The unit, which can house 15,000 square feet of parts inventory, will allow the company to reduce labor costs, inventory loss, and boost storage capacity.

Further, 4,000 square feet was added to train employees along with a fitness and kitchen center to support healthy lifestyle activities for the firm’s nearly 100 workers.

In 2019, the company had revenue of roughly $98 million and expects to have slightly higher revenue in 2020.

Plus, the expansion is phase one of a three-phase construction project. The other two phases will include commercial retail space and a retail location for outside tenants covering eight acres on land surrounding the company’s headquarters. The mixed retail development will allow the company to better serve its community and help it promote economic growth in the Washington, D.C metropolitan area, which offers business growth potential and opportunities for all minorities including blacks and Hispanics.

“We recognize the importance of leading economic growth in the region,” says the younger Neal. “Transportation is the backbone of the economy that provides connections between people, goods, and services, which enables trade and growth. In fact, two of the largest school bus fleets in the United States reside in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties.”

The nation’s largest black-owned commercial truck and bus supplier is Sun State International Trucks L.LC. The Tampa, Florida-based company ranked No. 28 on Black Enterprise’s 2019 Top 100s list with annual revenues of $148.5 million.

 

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Meet the 27-Year-Old Millionaire Who Saves 80% of His Income

Todd Baldwin is a 27-year-old millionaire who saves 80% of his income a year and refuses to spend his money on restaurants and the movies, CNBC reports.

Baldwin brings in roughly $615,000 ($305,000 after business expenses) thanks to a few streams of income from rental properties, his day job working in commercial insurance sales, and the extra income he makes as a secret shopper. The majority of his revenue comes from the six rental properties that he owns with his wife, Angela. They earn $460,000 per year in rent. After expenses, including mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, and utilities, they keep about $150,000 of that per year.

“Although our net worth is seven figures, we don’t do a lot of the typical things that most people envision millionaires doing. We are super frugal,” Baldwin said. The millennial millionaire refuses to spend money on entertainment, he told CNBC Make It, “but only because I know how to get paid for that.” Baldwin is a “secret shopper” who gets paid for dining out, going grocery shopping, seeing movies, and even visiting hotels and casinos.

Being a mystery shopper, the exact amount you earn per outing will vary. Most companies pay a flat rate between $5 and $25. You’ll spend another 30 minutes to an hour writing your report for the company you shopped for, according to realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com.

Baldwin has made about $30,000 since he started mystery shopping years ago in college. The surveys he fills out after the experience aren’t too time-consuming. For that reason, he has a hard time justifying spending money at movies and restaurants. “If a buddy wants to go to a bar or someone wants to go see a movie, I usually try to wait until I can get a mystery shop,” he says, “because if you’re going to go there anyway, you might as well get it for free and get paid on the top.”

In a world where most people make spontaneous purchases, Baldwin’s frugal spending habits are a smart move. According to Entrepreneur.com, three of the main reasons that millionaires go broke or bankrupt are they didn’t have several streams of income, they made pricey or emotional purchases, and they didn’t track their spending.

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Flavor Flav responds to Chuck D saying he was fired from Public Enemy

Flavor Flav fired back at Chuck D yesterday in a string of tweets over news that he had been fired from the legendary hip hop group, Public Enemy.

READ MORE: Public Enemy’s Chuck D fires Flavor Flav from the iconic group

“@MrChuckD are you kidding me right now??? ,,, over Bernie Sanders??? You wanna destroy something we’ve built over 35 years OVER POLITICS??? ,,, all because I don’t wanna endorse a candidate,,,I’m very disappointed in you and your decisions right now Chuck,,,” Flav tweeted.

.@MrChuckD are you kidding me right now???,,,over Bernie Sanders??? You wanna destroy something we’ve built over 35 years OVER POLITICS???,,,all because I don’t wanna endorse a candidate,,,I’m very disappointed in you and your decisions right now Chuck,,,

— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) March 2, 2020

Flavor Flav was responding to a statement Chuck D put out on Sunday, officially canning the clock-wearing hype man from the group.

“Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav,” Public Enemy released in the statement. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.”

Chuck went on to explain in more detail the reason behind the firing.

In a Twitter post, Chuck D said his relationship with Flav had been strained for years, but that when Flav sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sanders on Friday to stop the presidential hopeful from using his “unauthorized likeness, image and trademarked clock” to promote a campaign rally on Sunday in Los Angeles, it was the last straw.

“It’s not about BERNIE with Flav… he don’t know the difference between Barry Sanders or Bernie Sanders. He don’t know either. FLAV refused to support Sankofa after Harry Belafonte inducted us. He don’t do that.”

Sankofa, a grassroots organization founded by Harry Belafonte, aims to, as they note on their site, “focus on issues of injustice that disproportionately affect the disenfranchised, the oppressed, and the underserved, which left unaddressed will continue to impact the lives of too many individuals and remain a scar on our nation’s moral character.”

… last final note the last final note was my last straw was long ago. It’s not about BERNIE with Flav… he don’t know the difference between BarrySanders or BernieSanders he don’t know either. FLAV refused to support @Sankofa after @harrybelafonte inducted us. He don’t do that pic.twitter.com/5Ky9dTnzmd

— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 1, 2020

However, Flav said the cease-and-desist letter was to correct the impression that he was backing Sanders for president. In the letter Flav’s lawyer Matthew Friedman sent to the Sanders’ campaign, he wrote:

“While Chuck is certainly free to express his political view as he sees fit — his voice alone does not speak for Public Enemy. The planned performance will only be Chuck D of Public Enemy, it will not be a performance by Public Enemy. Those who truly know what Public Enemy stands for know what time it is. There is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav.”

Yesterday on Twitter, Chuck D implied it’s all about money for Flav and not about doing work that matters.

“Spoke @BernieSanders rally with @EnemyRadio. If there was a $bag, Flav would’ve been there front & center. He will NOT do free benefit shows. Sued me in court the 1st time I let him back in. His ambulance lawyer sued me again on Friday & so now he stays home and better fine REHAB,” Chuck tweeted on Monday.

Spoke @BernieSanders rally with @EnemyRadio. If there was a $bag, Flav would’ve been there front & center. He will NOT do free benefit shows. Sued me in court the 1st time I let him back in. His ambulance lawyer sued me again on Friday & so now he stays home & better find REHAB

— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 2, 2020

READ MORE: Chuck D responds to Flavor Flav hitting Bernie Sanders’ camp with a cease-and-desist over Public Enemy performance

Flav fired back to set the record straight.

“I’m not on drugs like you’re saying and have been clean for 10 years,,,i have battled addiction before and like millions of other Americans I know the massive toll it takes,,,Chuck you know better than to lie about shit like that,,,” said the iconic hypeman tweeted.

Also .@MrChuckD,,,i’m not on drugs like you’re saying and have been clean for 10 years,,,i have battled addiction before and like millions of other Americans I know the massive toll it takes,,,Chuck you know better than to lie about shit like that,,,,

— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) March 2, 2020

He went on to say his cease-and-desist letter was not a lawsuit against Chuck D.

“And @MrChuckD,,,i didn’t sue you on Friday,,,i asked the @berniesanders campaign to correct misleading marketing,,,that’s all it was,,,I’m not your employee,,,i’m your partner,,,you can’t fire me,,,there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav,,,so let’s get it right Chuck,,,” Flavor added.

And .@MrChuckD,,,i didn’t sue you on Friday,,,i asked the @berniesanders campaign to correct misleading marketing,,,that’s all it was,,,I’m not your employee,,,i’m your partner,,,you can’t fire me,,,there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav,,,so let’s get it right Chuck,,,

— FLAVOR FLAV (@FlavorFlav) March 2, 2020

The post Flavor Flav responds to Chuck D saying he was fired from Public Enemy appeared first on TheGrio.

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9 Thoughts About The Trailer For the New Candyman Movie

The trailer for the new Candyman movie—produced and written by Jordan Peele, directed by Nia DaCosta—hit the interwebs on February 27 and, well, I cannot wait until it is released on June 12. Don’t get it twisted, the first movie scared the everloving shit out of me and I’m not a horror movie person, but I look…

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