I’m somehow surprised to find that Dr. Ben’s journey across the nation on behalf of H3 Enterprises as both President and CEO, led him to Pop N Go, but that’s where his focus on building H3 into a socially productive and highly profitable enterprise took him.
Part of the deal involves making "Pop N Go the exclusive fresh popcorn supplier for the HipHopSodaShops and all H3-related activities". Possibly a good business move, I have no idea, but only prelude to the interesting part of the deal that leverages Dr. Ben’s social cred:
Pop N Go has agreed to donate their high tech popcorn machines to a program designed to provide inner city youth with a new opportunity for employment. These machines will be available for any person to be able to set up Pop N Go’s cutting-edge popcorn machines in any location they can find an outlet to sell.
Each individual will be given the opportunity to set up a partnership with local vendors. This partnership would allow for a young person to split the earnings of each machine with the vendors as well as the parent company. This new plan will allow HTRE to bring in immediate revenues by becoming a "placement" company as well as providing much needed jobs to some of the youth involved.
Local hospitals, schools, and a wide range of retail and industrial locations will be targeted as financial partners for HTRE, Pop N Go, and their new entrepreneurial work force. These "routes" can be operated as individual businesses by youth in their communities thereby generating cash flow and entrepreneurial skills and creating a national HTRE/Pop N Go work force across America.
Pop N Go and HTRE will work together to empower disadvantaged youths through a training program to service Pop N Go machines. Typically, the venue does not pay for the machine, but receives a percent of the income in exchange for providing a small space for the Pop N Go machines (4 sq ft).
Though the release states that "this new plan will allow HTRE to bring in immediate revenues by becoming a ‘placement’ company", it’s not at all clear how offering such services will immediately generate revenue unless Pop N Go is paying them to do so.
But if they’re really "creating a national HTRE/Pop N Go work force across America" composed of entrepreneurial youth from disadvantaged backgrounds, they have a huge task of selection, training and long term mentoring/monitoring ahead of them. The implications of achieving such a national network are many and profound, from identifying entrepreneurial talent to creating relationships with their "financial partners", i.e. "local hospitals, schools, and a wide range of retail and industrial locations."
Very interesting. I think these are the vending machines to which they refer.
ProHipHop suggests adding a small portable version that can be mounted on the back of one’s scraper bike to bring a mobile edge to this entrepreneurial network.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Dr. Benjamin Chavis Completes Takeover of H3 Enterprises
