New Mexico Black Leadership Council

Tag: Black Owned Business

  • NM Black Chamber of Commerce Gala

    NM Black Chamber of Commerce Gala

    Tables and sponsorships available now for the 2024 Black Chamber of Commerce Gala! Silent Auction, Dessert Raffle, and more. Click HERE for details and to grab your spot at the Black Chamber Gala!

  • Black Business Summit: Advancing Economic Freedom

    Black Business Summit: Advancing Economic Freedom

    Hear directly from community members about their individual business journeys – from incubators, to contracting, to doing business globally. Learn about the Corporate Transparency Act, business formation considerations for entrepreneurs, and more.

    There will be breaks to check out the Juneteenth action next door at Civic Plaza!

     

    See the full agenda and RSVP for this powerful free event here.

  • Ascend ABQ Small Business Event

    Ascend ABQ Small Business Event

    Learn about how your small business can operate a retail space in the Sunport!

    • Duration: Operate at the Sunport for up to a year, providing an opportunity to showcase your brand and connect with a diverse, global audience.

    • Support and Training: Benefit from comprehensive support and training, ensuring your business is well-equipped for success in a dynamic environment.

    • Growth Opportunities: ASCEND ABQ is not just an endpoint; it’s a beginning. Successful participants can aspire to become inline concessionaire operators at the Sunport and other U.S. airports, opening doors to unprecedented growth.

    Check out https://abqsunportbiz.com/ascend/ for more info.

  • Intellectual Property Legal Fair

    Intellectual Property Legal Fair

    Creatives and inventors! Get FREE legal advice for your business! You MUST REGISTER by October 20 for a consultation.

    Your 30- to 60-minute telephone or video consult can include advice on how to:
    • Patent your invention
    • Protect your brand/trademark
    • Protect your creative works and software code
    • Sell your art
    • Form your business

    Click HERE to register.

  • Biscuit Boy Brings People Together for Albuquerque’s Greater Good

    Biscuit Boy Brings People Together for Albuquerque’s Greater Good

    Biscuit Boy’s food spot at the Albuquerque Rail Yards market brings in the crowds with a dash of Southernness.

    This week on the blog, NMBLC spotlights a local, Black owned business, Biscuit Boy. The profile “Commitment to Community” first appeared in the July 2023 edition of NMBLC’s monthly newspaper, the UpLift Chronicles.

    For more great articles about the people, places, and happenings of Albuquerque’s Black communities, subscribe to the UpLift Chronicles.

    The following piece was written by Sean Cardinalli.

    Commitment to Community — Biscuit Boy’s owner brings people together for the city’s greater good

    Deonte “Dee” Halsey is all about community; he’s a “people person.” He’s taught grade school for 23 years and loves his students; he’s gotten mad notoriety for his burgeoning food spot called Biscuit Boy; he’s president of the Rail Yards Board of Directors; and he’s a member of the South Valley Economic Development Center. Things are going this brother’s way.

    Deonte Halsey, owner of Biscuit Boy
    Deonte Halsey, owner of Biscuit Boy

    When we interviewed, Dee had just come from his fifth-grade students’ promotion ceremony at A. Montoya School in the East Mountains. He loves attending because it means so much to the parents and students.

    Dee’s kindly demeanor and big, easy grin have served him well; he’s approachable and invested. He’s lived in Albuquerque since 2015 but he’s seen a lot of the States. He was born in Tennessee and raised in Inglewood outside Los Angeles; then he graduated from Tennessee State and assisted in the National Youth Sports Program. Dee got his master’s in physics from Loyola University in Maryland, veered back to teaching, and—after stints in Atlanta, Baltimore, and Houston—arrived in Albuquerque.

    Back when, Dee realized he was “a pretty good cook,” and wanted to run a bed and breakfast some day; something like Cecilia’s Café on Sixth. So, he started simple with a mobile food service and soon held Biscuit Boy’s spot down at the Rail Yards. He practiced a lot to get his buttermilk biscuit recipe just right; he dashed in some Southernness, added a bit of science, and was sure to use local flour, flavors, and, of course, green chile.

    Biscuit Boy's biscuit sandwich
    Biscuit Boy’s biscuit sandwich
    Biscuit Boy's The Triple B
    Biscuit Boy’s The Triple B
    Biscuit Boy's biscuits and gravy
    Biscuit Boy’s biscuits and gravy

    During the pandemic, Dee switched to a delivery-based model and landed in local coffee shops and high-profile places like Tamaya Resort and Los Poblanos. He has a commercial kitchen in the South Valley but is frank about the food biz’s challenges: the profit margins are slim and the work is very labor-intensive.

    To get his buttermilk biscuit recipe just right, he dashed in some Southernness, added a bit of science, and was sure to use local flour, flavors, and, of course, green chile.

    The kinds of hurdles Dee faces with his Biscuit Boy crew are the kinds he knows a lot of entrepreneurs face. Which is why he took the Rail Yards Board chair after a second thought. “I was thinking, why [do they want me?] And then I was like, oh, I know exactly why. Because I like the community. I like the Rail Yards. I like Barelas.” The board specifically keeps a “low barrier of entry fees” compared to places like Expo New Mexico or Balloon Fiesta Park and it’s helpful in getting smaller businesses, artisans, growers, and restaurateurs established. Dee believes the Rail Yards will continue to “help our economy grow in lots of different ways.”

    Eventually, he sees the community space expanding—not only with the New Mexico Media Academy—but with the Wheels Museum and multi-use, multifamily housing leading to Avenida Cesar Chavez. It’s a plan he hopes benefits everyone in Albuquerque; a site that attracts families and tourists like Union Market in D.C. and Pike Place Market in Seattle. “When we’re doing things for the Rail Yards, we’re doing it more for the people in the city, not just for us.”

    Visit Biscuit Boy at https://www.biscuitboynm.com/.

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    Shannon Moreau

    Shannon Moreau is the Editor of the NMBLC EQ Blog

  • Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles is a Beloved Albuquerque Soul Food Restaurant

    Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles is a Beloved Albuquerque Soul Food Restaurant

    Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles in the International District of Albuquerque, New Mexico has become a favorite spot with multigenerational appeal.

    This week on the blog, NMBLC spotlights a local, Black owned business, Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles. The profile “Famous by Nature” first appeared in the April 2023 Beyond the Chair edition of NMBLC’s monthly newspaper, the UpLift Chronicles. For more great articles about the people, places, and happenings of Albuquerque’s Black communities, subscribe to the UpLift Chronicles.

    The following piece was written by Kristin Satterlee.

    Famous By Nature – A beloved soul food spot attracts “a little bit of everybody”

    When Frank Willis started delivering chicken and waffles out his sister’s kitchen in 2012, he had only $150 in his pocket. Just over a decade later, Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles has become an Albuquerque favorite with multigenerational appeal.

    Willis was inspired by his love for the Los Angeles soul-food chain, Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles. “There was a void of the concept out here at the time,” he says. After a trip to the West Coast, he told his friends, “When we get back to Albuquerque, I’m going to open a chicken and waffles restaurant.” And he did.

    Frank’s moved to its current location barely three months before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. “That was rough, because we were just gaining momentum… and it just all had to stop.” Frank’s survived on to-go orders only, reopening the dining room after a year.

    Frank Willis and customers at Frank's Famous Chicken & Waffles
    Photo courtesy of Frank’s Famous Chicken and Waffles Facebook page

    Willis brings a second lifelong love to Burqueños through his restaurant. “My father was in a music group called Black Ice in the ’70s and ’80s. My love of music is probably just as strong as my love for food.” Frank’s hosts the band Nothing But Grooves to crowds Thursday night, with karaoke on Tuesdays. “We’re trying to get a little more nightlife going.”

    Willis says Frank’s attracts “a little bit of everybody” with its food and welcoming atmosphere. 

    “We have grandmothers who come with their families, and when the grandmother or grandfather passes away, the family still comes… I just enjoy that we’re making people happy.”

    — Frank Willis, owner, frank’s famous chicken & waffles

    Visit Frank’s Famous Chicken & Waffles, located at

    400 Washington St SE
    Albuquerque, NM 87108
    (505) 261-9458
    Website: https://www.franksfamouschickenandwaffles.com/ 

    Check out the Black Ice documentary: https://tubitv.com/movies/100000165/behind-the-groove-the-black-ice-documentary

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    Read the UpLift Chronicles:

    https://nmblc.org/uplift/

    Subscribe to the UpLift Chronicles
    Subscribe
    Shannon Moreau

    Shannon Moreau is the Editor of the NMBLC EQ Blog.

  • Trademarks: Protecting YOUR Brand

    Trademarks: Protecting YOUR Brand

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