ARS Energy, Inc
May 5, 2011
Mr. Meldon S. Hollis, Jr. Associate Director,
White House Initiative on HBCUs
400 Maryland Avenue SW, Suite 4C122
Washington, DC 20202
Dear Mr. Hollis,
On behalf of ARS Energy Inc ., we are pleased to announce the completion of the evaluation of the proposals for The Race-to-the-Top (R2TT) for Energy Security for HBCUs. ARS Energy received proposals from Alabama State University, Tuskegee University, FAMU, and Clark Atlanta University. This letter serves as a notification to your office as to the status of the evaluations. This process was undertaken after I, as a representative of ARS Energy, made a public statement at the White House Initiative on HBCUs board meeting this past March in Washington, D.C. After my statement, I spoke with you and discussed how this type of initiative might be funded and what your office would need to consider assisting ARS Energy in indentifying funding sources for such an initiative. ARS Energy has never represented that the White House Initiative on HBCUs was a sponsor or endorsed this initiative. While this is an initiative that ARS Energy believes can play a critical role in the energy security for our nation, this letter does not commit either the White House Initiative on HBCUs, the Department of Energy or any of the other Federal agencies that ARS Energy representatives have discussed this initiative with in reference to The Race-to-the-Top (R2TT) for Energy Security for HBCUs.
The schools were required to develop specific proposals that addressed potential cost savings, revenue opportunities, along with the number of businesses and jobs created within their communities. Based on the independent panel’s evaluation report, both Alabama State University (95%) and FAMU (94.67%) ranked in the highly qualified project category. The requested amount from these two schools totaled $8.82 million. The panel further ranked Tuskegee University (82.5%) and Clark Atlanta University (78.33%) as qualified projects. Although, two schools met the criteria of being highly qualified, I believe the institutions have the ability to meet all of R2TT criteria’s with some guidance and monitoring using ARS Energy as the PMO. We would work with the schools in providing the necessary management guidance and assist the universities in meeting their fullest potential within R2TT. Moreover, we have the opportunity to help these schools focus on jobs and business creation, and assist the schools with meeting the economic drivers for campus sustainability.
Finally, our firm needs your support to help fund this historic pilot initiative. By embracing this unique initiative, HBCUs will be able to reduce energy costs, commission renewable energy systems, manufacture and sell biodiesel and create new businesses and jobs within their communities. As the nation moves towards a clean energy future, the HBCUs can play an important part at Winning-the-Future for the nation. For your review, I have enclosed the (1) proposals, (2) letters of support, (3) bios and report letter from the independent panel, (4) evaluation summaries and (5) ARS Energy support letter. The University Presidents and their project managers have an urgency to implement these initiatives starting July 1st . ARS Energy representatives would like to schedule a meeting with your office and the Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (representatives of ARS Energy met and shared the idea of this initiative with Jamie Scipio and Chester Scott within their office last month) as soon as possible to discuss final evaluations and funding opportunities for the proposed projects. I will contact your office not later than Monday, May 9th to follow up on this important initiative.
Sincerely,
Dr. Daanen Strachan Managing Partner
BSLF HBCU SOLAR INITIATIVE
PROJECT INTRODUCTION & RATIONALE
. TO ADDRESS THE ECONOMIC EFFECT OF HIGH ENERGY COSTS FOR HBCUs
- To Utilize Black-American owned farm lands and HBCU Campuses to develop capacity for solar installation for under employed young black men and women.
- To create capacity for the utilization of renewable energy for Black-American owned farms, institutions, hospitals, municipalities, and universities by training young people locally and nationally from the Diaspora, and visiting student and athletes.
- To Target the 106 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’S) to become NABCEP continuing education certificate training providers through their continuing education and workforce development programs working in conjunction with Kaplan University of El Paso Texas to provide online training in their local area market places for interested candidates. .
- To encourage HBCUs with workforce development programs to work in conjunction with local solar companies in their market place to help them develop apprenticeship training programs for individual successful in completing the NABCEP continuing education or work development training programs.
- To encourage HBCUs with Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) to help identify students majoring in business administration at HBCUs to help local solar companies write proposals targeting local and federal grants to develop training programs, reducing the time and resources needed for smaller solar companies in their market place to complete the application process for grants.
- To encourage HBCUs to enter into more public/private partnerships with solar companies and private investment companies to set up more solar farms on Black-American owned farm lands and HBCU campuses nationally.
- To encourage HBCUs with schools of business, communication, engineering to developed better working relations with local solar companies in the area to develop local advertising programs to target the Black American community to get the word out on programs such as the Energy Smart DC Solar Advantage Plus Program.
- To leverage current Department of Energy grants to certify under and unemployed youth.
AT PRESENT, THERE ARE TWO PRIME EXAMPLES OF SOLAR FARMS EMPLOYED ON HBCU CAMPUSES
- UMES-UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE
- US VI-UNIVERSITY OF VIRGIN ISLANDS
Business Model Used:
- Land owned by the universities to lease to solar companies which in turn set up solar farms.
- Negotiating a discount rate for energy cost for the life of the solar farm usually (25 years) locking in their energy cost and getting substantial savings for the university.
- Additionally, negotiations by the university to have a training center set up by the solar company.
Training and certification of a certain number of people from the community served in solar installation, as well as the monitoring and maintenance of said solar farm
- Within a certain period of time, said trained individuals could become part of the team to take over the running of the solar farm, as well as the ability to replicate the development
of other solar farms on Afro-American owned farms and HBCU campuses.
While the black community has been slow to enter the field of renewable energy, we are making fast inroads into various components of the industry including making solar panels, solar system and storage packs our mission is to leverage all resources available to create additional capacity, creating jobs, businesses and industry for the Diaspora.
copyright: May 1. 2016 all rights reserved Positive Change Purchasing Cooperative LLC
CEO (BSLF) Ronald K. BETHEA
Board Of Directors
Frank Coles
Wayne R. Frazier
Vince Robinson
Frank Simpson
Floyd E. Taliaferro, III
May 22, 2016
Lezli Baskerville
President and Executive Officer
NAFEO
209 Third Street SE
Washington, DC 20005
Reference: The Black Sports Legends Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities International Scholarship Soccer Initiative and BSLF Solar Energy Testing Certification Initiative
My organization is a 501 (c) (3) non- profit organization registered in the District of Columbia. The Black Sports Legends Foundation was established to pay tribute and simultaneously examine the black sports legends of baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golf, tennis, track and field, and all other areas of sports.
We also focus on identifying student athletic scholarship opportunities at HBCUs and locating funding to assist student athletes find the corporate funding through our new BSLF SOLAR ENERGY TESTING CERTIFICATION INITIATIVE in conjunction with The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). This relationship would assist in increasing the numbers of trained NABCEP certified professionals among people of color worldwide.
This program could increase the profitability of companies which are authorized and contracted with DCSEU to participate in programs like the Solar Advantage Plus Program in the District of Columbia and nationwide which would help to generate millions dollars in growth in the solar energy industry. It also would help raise millions of dollars to pay for scholarships at HBCUs for these two initiatives.
The Black Sports Legends Foundation (BSLF) plans to engage The National Association Equal Opportunity In Higher Education ( NAFEO) and United Negro College Fund (UNCF) in developing the following:
The BSLF International Scholarship Soccer Initiative and International Public/Private Partnerships for Funding Soccer at HBCUs, along with approaching The White House Initiative on HBCUs so that the BSLF can have a presence at their Annual National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Week Conference on October 23-25, 2016 and to request that President Barack Obama issue a Presidential Executive Order to Establish a Presidential Commission to help these two initiatives become a reality for HBCUs before he leaves office.
With the governments of African, the Caribbean, Central and South American nations, the BSLF will be working to get the African Affairs division in each major city to obtain the support of Embassies of African, Caribbean, Central and South American nations in support of this initiative. This partnership will help identify corporate sponsors doing business with these nations to enter into long -term partnerships to get corporate sponsorships for funding at an annual rate of $1.2 million a year for each HBCU institution in one of 5 HBCU conferences who are interested in starting a program for student athletic soccer scholarship opportunities for men and women at HBCUs in the United States.
I believe your office can play a very important role in helping my organization identify the African nations and African ambassadors here in Washington D.C. that we need to play key roles in launching this initiative. I would like to meet with your Washington D.C. office as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for taking the time to review my organization’s Project Introduction and Rationale. I can be reached at 202-246-4924. I would love to meet with you to develop a plan of action.
Sincerely,
Ronald K. Bethea
CEO/President of BSLF
CEO (BSLF) Ronald K. BETHEA
May 23, 2016
Michael L. Lomax, PhD.
President and Chief Executive Officer
UNCF
1805 7th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
Reference: The Black Sports Legends Foundation Historically Black Colleges and Universities International Scholarship Soccer Initiative and BSLF Solar Energy Testing Certification Initiative
My organization is a 501 (c) (3) non- profit organization registered in the District of Columbia. The Black Sports Legends Foundation was established to pay tribute and simultaneously examine the black sports legends of baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golf, tennis, track and field, and all other areas of sports.
We also focus on identifying student athletic scholarship opportunities at HBCUs and locating funding to assist student athletes in finding the corporate funding through our new BSLF SOLAR ENERGY TESTING CERTIFICATION INITIATIVE in conjunction with The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) . This relationship would assist in increasing the numbers of trained NABCEP certified professionals among people of color worldwide.
This program could increase the profitability of companies which are authorized and contracted with DCSEU to participate in programs like the Solar Advantage Plus Program in the District of Columbia and nationwide. It would help generate millions of dollars in growth in the solar energy industry. It also would help raise millions of dollars to pay for scholarships at HBCUs.
The Black Sports Legends Foundation (BSLF) plans to engage The National Association of Equal Opportunity In Higher Education (NAFEO) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) in developing the following initiative as described below.
The BSLF International Scholarship Soccer Initiative and International Public/Private Partnerships for Funding Soccer at HBCUs BSLF representatives would approach The White House Initiative on HBCUs in order to have a presence at their Annual National Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Week Conference from October 23-25, 2016. BSLF would also request that President Barack Obama issue a Presidential Executive Order to Establish a Presidential Commission to help these two initiatives become a reality for HBCUs before he leaves office.
The BSLF has reached out to The Foundation for Democracy in Africa, along with Washington, D.C. African Affairs office for their endorsement of our initiatives and to obtain their support in getting the support of governments and embassies of African, Caribbean, Central and South American nations for these two initiatives.
This partnership will help identify corporate sponsors doing business with these nations to enter into long -term public/private partnerships to get corporate sponsorships for funding at an annual rate of $1.2 million a year for the 59 HBCU institutions in one of five HBCU conferences who are interested in starting a program for student athletic soccer scholarship opportunities. Revenues would be created for over fourteen hundred scholarships for young men and women to attend HBCUs in the United States.
I believe your office can play a very important role in helping my organization identify the African nations and African ambassadors here in Washington D.C. that we need to play key roles in launching these two initiatives. I would like to meet with you in your Washington D.C. office as soon as possible to take the time to review my organization’s Project Introduction and Rationale.
I can be reached at 202-246-4924. I would like to meet with you to develop a plan of action.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ronald K. Bethea
CEO/President of BSLF
Subject: Why I’m Attending the Upcoming Meeting at The White House and on Capitol Hill With Other HBCU Presidents
February 24, 2017
Dear Morgan Family:
Many of you have probably heard by now that I, along with other HBCU Presidents and Chancellors, and HBCU advocacy organizations, have been invited to the White House for a meeting with President Trump and members of his domestic policy team on February 27, 2017. In addition, we have also been invited to attend an “HBCU Fly-In” at the Library of Congress the following day. The Fly-In has been organized by U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), and U.S. Congressman Mark Walker (R-North Carolina). Since receiving these invitations, I have engaged in extensive dialogue and conversations with several constituents within the Morgan family to apprise them of these opportunities and to hear their perspectives. I have spoken with: a group of student leaders (including our SGA President and Vice President), many members of our faculty, members of the Morgan State University Board of Regents, officers and chapter presidents of the Morgan State University Alumni Association, and several members of my Cabinet. I am writing to inform you that, after having concluded these consultations and after much thought, I have decided to accept the invitation to the White House and to the HBCU Fly-In.
My decision was based on several factors. First, I view this as an opportunity for HBCUs to be a part of an initial dialogue to propose a substantive agenda for our institutions that will call on the President and Congress to invest billions of dollars in a group of colleges and universities that I think are among the most consequential that have dotted the American higher education landscape.
And second, if Mr. Trump is going to meet with college and university presidents, I want Morgan to be at the table. Moreover, I want to ensure that the rich history of our schools is appropriately represented, and that there is an appreciation in the discussion for the unique role they must play in setting the path for this country’s future.
With the assistance of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), the HBCU presidents have coalesced around an agenda that would include the following investments in our institutions:
- Establishing an initial $2 billion fund for infrastructure and capacity-building to help establish parity in STEM research and development at HBCUs. The fund, which would be an annual appropriation, would allocate deferred maintenance grants to HBCUs to construct new or modify existing science, medical, and engineering laboratories and buildings to support increased participation in federal research & development programs. The nation will desperately need to produce more African-Americans in STEM fields if it is to maintain a globally competitive edge in the decades to come, and HBCUs are the current leaders in producing that talent;
- Permanently restoring year-round Pell Grants and raise the maximum Pell Grant from $5,815 to $5,935 in FY 2017, keeping up with inflation after that;
- Investing $163 million in annual funding for STEM initiatives for best-practice models to further drive participation of African Americans in the STEM workforce;
- Investing $50 million in annual funding for teacher preparation initiatives to accelerate preparing effective minority teachers through both traditional and nontraditional teacher training programs–a key national need.Although students of color are expected to comprise 56 percent of the student population by 2024, African American teachers comprise only seven percent of the current teaching workforce;
- Establishing and appropriately funding national laboratories on HBCU campuses (NIH, EPA, USDA, Energy, Defense, Transportation, Education, Homeland Security, Justice, and NASA).These national laboratories will study challenges of low-income urban and rural communities in areas, including: (a) public transit access; (b) school and college completion; (c) small farmers and black farmers’ sustainability; (d) diabetes and sickle cell anemia; (e) urban development; (f) clean city/rural water; (g) alternative sentencing; (h) small business innovation for national defense and homeland security; (i) grid/solar energy generation; and (j) earth survival.
- Establishing a system of research centers on at least 10 HBCU campuses throughout the country, in order to capitalize upon HBCUs’ ability to graduate a disproportionately higher number of African Americans with STEM field degrees. These centers, funded at approximately $5 million per center, per year, for a decade would focus on ground-breaking research fields such as cybersecurity, advanced materials, interactive manufacturing, health disparities, robotics and artificial intelligence.These centers would become economic development opportunities and enhance our national security based on their research discoveries.
This is an important agenda. It is why we must be represented, why our voices must be heard, and why I am compelled to attend the White House and Capitol Hill meetings. I am not attending for politics; neither am I attending for a “photo opp.” I am attending to represent this great university.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
President Wilson
MEETING AGENDA
DATE:
JANUARY 13, 2015 AT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF PRESIDENT
TIME:3:30 P.M.
AGENDA ITEMS
- Cancellation of BSLF 2014-2015 Film Festival at Morgan State University and Why?
10 Minutes for Review and discussion.
- 2014 PRE- HOMECOMING MEMORIAL CELEBRATION & SERVICE.
10 Minutes for Review and discussion.
- 3. 2015 New York Urban League Game:
Developing A New Corporate Marketing Model to Generate Corporate Purchasing of tickets to give high school students in markets New York City, New Jersey , Baltimore, Md. and Washington D.C. market area’s and bus in for game.
15 Minutes for Review and discussion.
- THE BLACK SPORTS LEGENDS FOUNDATION (BSLF) HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (HBCUs) INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP SOCCER INITIATIVE
15 Minutes for Review and discussion.
:THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING BSLF TIME TO MAKE THIS PRESENTATION:
