The Business Beat: Robert Thomas

Robert Thomas, president and CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment
Center.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Empowerment Center is an economic-development enterprise located in its own 42,224-square-foot building. The Center's purpose is to provide
a full array of business opportunities to individuals through entrepreneurial-development
programs, micro-business, incubation, and job training and placement. 
As a community-based operation that has been in existence since 1994, the Center is able to provide free and low-cost counseling and professional services to clients who are seeking
to enhance their business proficiencies, whether it is as an employee or an employer.
On April 4, the Martin Luther King Jr., Business Empowerment Center marked its 15th anniversary of community service, assisting individuals and small business entrepreneurs. From the time of our inception in the second floor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church, the Center has grown into a multi-phase incubator, currently supporting 24 businesses with 108 employees. The Center generates $8 million in revenue with a ripple effect of $20 million of economic impact on Massachusetts.
On April 4, the Center also presented its new, annual Entrepreneur of the Year Award to Chizoma Nosike, president of Acclaim Home Health Care in Worcester.
The Center also presented its new, annual Guiding Light Award to Frank Carroll, founder of the Small Business Service Bureau in Worcester.
And the Center presented its annual Community Service Award to Rod Lee, editor of the Telegram & Gazette’s
monthly d.b.a. magazine for business entrepreneurs.