Ed Easton

editor

When Lloyd Reshard launched Pensacola Network, he was hoping to build upon his success in forming professional connections in Fort Walton Beach's black community.

Reshard, CEO at Tip Or Tap Marketing, moved to Pensacola seven years ago to be with his wife, Robin Reshard, whose documentary "Belmont-DeVilliers: The Making of a Neighborhood," tells the story of Pensacola's historic center for black culture. He and his wife launched Pensacola Network last year and on Friday celebrated the group's first anniversary at DeVilliers Square.

"There was no regular African-American network event where African-Americans could get together and talk, and there was no event where the majority of the community could connect with African-Americans and start building relationships," Lloyd Reshard said Friday. "So the purpose of the event is to provide people the opportunity to meet each other and to start building a relationship."

Pensacola Network was established to connect black business owners, organizations and professionals to resources that help them flourish. The networking events are hosted monthly to foster business relationships and spur economic development within the community.

Monthly meetings bring together black business owners, organizations and professionals through monthly meetings at DeVilliers Square, on the corner of DeVilliers and Belmont streets in downtown Pensacola.

Friday's celebration drew a diverse group of more than 100 people, including representatives from Gulf Power, Pensacola State College, the Gulf Coast African-American Chamber of Commerce and dozens of small, black-owned businesses from around the Pensacola area.

Charles Colbert, president of sales with the certified majority business Merchandise Distributors K.W. Inc., which focuses on janitorial and office services, said he had attended a number of Pensacola Network events in the past.

"These functions open a small door, but they also open up more opportunities," he said.

And Friday's event gave him a chance to promote his endeavor with communications company Spring to bring more computers to local K-12 schools.

That's because the special guest was Escambia County Schools Superintendent Malcolm Thomas.

"I think any time we try to get the community to come together to examine issues that are important to all of us, that's got to be a good thing," Thomas said of Friday's event, the first Pensacola Network gathering he attended. "It's not about the size of the group. It's about what they're willing to do."

Thomas said he hopes his appearance Friday and subsequent question and answer session with Robin Reshard would help shed light on the school system.

"People think they understand schools because they went to one," he said. "Today's schools are very different. ... Technology has changed everything, and our expectations have never been higher."

Thomas' sit-down with Reshard touched on topics from workforce training and the school system's career academies in such areas as aerospace technology, sports medicine and home building to more sensitive topics including racial diversity and holding teachers accountable.

Reshard noted a gap in graduation rates in the black community and that addressing the disparity would motivation more black business owners to hire young black graduates.

Thomas said the school board has increased opportunities for students to become involved in Advanced Placement courses as well as workforce training for non-college-bound grads.

Thomas also took questions from 2014 Pensacola High International Baccalaureate program graduate Kourtney Jones on a variety of topics including Common Core standards and underperforming schools and workforce development.

Ahead of Friday's celebration, Lloyd Reshard noted some of the many successes Pensacola Network has seen, including partnerships between the local black community and companies such as Gulf Power and businessman Quint Studer's endeavors.

Moving forward, Reshard said he hopes to expand Pensacola Network's small-business sponsorship base and corporate sponsorships, as well as its partnerships in the local black community.

"Our partners have basically helped us be successful ...," he said. "Part of our objective is to grow Belmont-DeVilliers and the whole community."

ONLINE

For more information and to watch videos of monthly speakers, visit pcolanetwork.com.