Interview Before After


VB:How big is the chapter’s employment and its membership? Bland:Membership is probably approximately a thousand. Our employee base fluctuates. I’ve spent the year rebuilding our organiza- tion, that is, in examining all of our expenses. We have been in a slow- growth mode in terms of growth of employees but more importantly, a growth to right size the organiza- tion for its revenues and expenses. We are now a profitable organiza- tion, which I’m very proud of. That requires some paring of expenses, but we’re now in a building mode and looking at a number of pro- grams, some national, some local in partnership with many other major brands and companies … I believe in 2019, we’ll begin to see the fruits of the planning initiatives of 2018.


Bland also heads Healthy Neighborhood Enterprises, a community development corporation.


Photos courtesy Healthy Neighborhood Enterprises/Facebook


VB:What is your overall objective with the chapter? Where would you like for it to go? Bland:Our chapter in Hamp- ton Roads has unique opportuni- ties. We are the 13th


-largest Afri-


can-American population in Amer- ica, and African-American citizens represent 33 percent of the region’s population. It’s an opportunity to empower through investment, through programs, through part- nerships to ensure that these citi- zens, from pre-K to the elderly, have an opportunity to engage. I think I would view [the chapter’s efforts as successful] if we were able to com- fortably and honestly say that our citizens are fully integrated into the community of Hampton Roads, because I think it will provide a greater workforce, an improved workforce. I think it will allow for more philanthropic contributions and overall a better community.


VB: Let’s talk a little bit about some of the [Urban League] proj- ects that you’re involved with. Bland: One of the promising partnerships is with LISC, the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a national service group that’s headed by Maurice Jones, the former [Vir-


20 | FEBRUARY 2019


ginia] secretary of commerce. We are looking to establish financial opportunity centers that would provide counseling and coaching. We have an opportunity to join the Hampton Roads Workforce Coun- cil, an organization formally known as Opportunity Inc., to do this. We will be one of the largest financial opportunity centers in the nation. We plan to do it both on the south side of Hampton Roads, as well as for the Virginia Peninsula. Secondly, I serve on a board


of Sentara Healthcare, and one of the great pursuits of the health-care industry in general is understand- ing the social imperatives of health. The quality of life and longevity of life is often tied to the ZIP code where you were born, which obvi- ously we can’t control. Health-care organizations are looking to invest in initiatives that involve nonmedi- cal intervention. We believe that only 10 to 15 percent of the qual- ity of life and lifespan is [affected by] medical intervention. The rest is lifestyle choices. Sentara has announced a number of initiatives they’re exploring. They’re looking to work with Urban League to invest in our four pillars. That’s a grand opportunity. Another exciting opportunity


is the Hunton YMCA, [in Nor- folk], the oldest Y in the nation continuously serving African- Americans … We have an oppor- tunity to join with them to help rebuild their finances and orga- nizational structure and also be a home for more of our programs. It’s in a rapidly changing neighbor- hood in Norfolk known as the St. Paul’s Quadrant, which is about to undergo a major evolution of reconstruction. It all joins together because we will be able to engage with those citizens for the finan- cial opportunity center, as they are making lifestyle changes and reloca- tion changes.


VB: Going back to the GilJoy Group, you’ve sold most of your restaurants now?


Bland: I have been a franchisee of two major global brands, Pizza Hut and Burger King, for nearly 35 years and would never be inter- ested in completely exiting the sys- tem. We have sold the bulk of the restaurants. We remain in Norfolk with a few, and we’re always looking for opportunities to grow our busi- ness. I would add that at one point as an employer we had over 2,000 team members and operated in three states. It was one of my great passions to work with those team members, provide them profes- sional opportunities and help them meet their goals, as well as build a business and sell the products of those two major global brands.


VB: You were a commercial banker in Chicago before you became a Burger King franchi- see in ’85. What made you decide to make the switch to become a franchisee? Bland: I attended James Madison University and received an under- graduate degree in accounting and economics. I then went to graduate school at Atlanta University, which at the time was the only accredited MBA program at a HBCU [his- torically black college or university]. Our professors urged us to consider entrepreneurism, and that path was generally through either accounting or banking. We’d have the oppor- tunity to learn about a variety of businesses. I embraced that and chose banking with the clear goal of becoming an entrepreneur. I went into commercial lending for seven years and had an opportunity to become an entrepreneur starting at age 29.


VB:Are franchises a good choice for minority entrepreneurs? Bland: It’s an often-repeated phrase, but I believe fully that: You’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself [as a franchisee]. What you’re essentially purchasing is a template and a successful busi- ness model that you have opportu- nity to then put your own personal


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