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C. David Moody Jr. once turned down an investment from Michael Jordan for his construction business. Since 1987, Moody, a Howard University alum with a Bachelor of Architecture degree, has been leading C.D. Moody Construction. He launched the Atlanta, GA-based venture seven years after serving as a staff architect and field engineer at Bechtel Power Corp. Moody was in his early 30s at the time of the company’s launch. While speaking with AFROTECH Brand Manager Will Lucas on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast, he admitted he had a team of three — which later scaled to more than 60 individuals — and launched with low capital. In fact, he and his wife had to borrow a couple thousand dollars to get C.D. Moody Construction off the ground. Moody said his saving grace was financial advice from his father, who served as a professor and later vice provost of the University of Michigan. “My dad grew up in the depression, and things were tight and he grew up very poor in Louisiana,” Moody...
Although Black people accounted for a large portion of the New York population, according to the United Census Bureau, for far too long, they have been left out of the ins and outs of a place rooted in our culture. It’s no secret that the Big Apple is known for its skyscrapers. Yet, not a single one that makes up the renowned New York City skyline has been constructed with a majority Black team — that is, until now. EBONY reports that for the first time ever, real estate developers have plans in motion to build the city’s first skyscraper with a majority Black-led team. “This is an opportunity to really create a paradigm shift and to start to build a Black economy that Black companies actually participate in and flourish,” said Craig Livingston, managing partner at Exact Capital. “On our side, as owners of a project, we can decide to spend a billion dollars with Black and Brown companies and for the economics to be shared and to be dissipated throughout specific communities.”
This Black-owned construction company is doing it big for the culture. Made up of four generations of Black men, Choates G Contracting now has seven new multi-million dollar contracts underneath its belt, according to Blacknews.com. The company — headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — was launched by Mr. Darrell Choates Sr., who has over four decades of experience in the construction industry. He has played a massive role in ensuring that the company remains within the family and continues to operate as a robust minority-managed organization throughout the years.
When it comes to construction one may not think about the heavy lifting that technology can do to ensure that projects are able to come full circle — that is until TracFlo came to life! Khalid David — founder of TracFlo — hails from a family of construction work and knows the pain points that are faced by both contractors and consumers. “I typically ask people if they’ve ever done a kitchen or bathroom renovation,” said David in an interview with AfroTech. “You’ll discover that it starts at one price and ends up at another price and that’s because there are always unforeseen changes. That’s a part of the construction industry.” Whenever something is being built, like the commercial skyscraper in the downtown area of a particular city, the changes in tow can often cost tens of millions of dollars. With TracFlo, contractors are able to track and manage project costs in a one-stop shop, which saves them both time and money.
For entrepreneur Jeanie Hunter, her current occupation isn’t what she originally had in mind for her life but she’s still making strides that are defying the odds for Black women in business. According to Atlanta Black Star, she started out pursuing a career as a real estate developer and then transitioned over to the male-dominated field of construction to launch a lucrative business in 2003 called Synergy Development Partners. “As a career path, construction wasn’t something that I thought about when I went to college,” she shares with the outlet. “I thought in construction you really had to have a hammer or some type of trade experience.” Though she lacked traditional construction experience, that didn’t stop Hunter from taking a leap of faith as an independent business woman. The hard work is paying off for her now as her company recently inked an airport contract for canopy modernization at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Although Hunter’s company is now finally being...
It’s official, “Akon City” is still on its way! R&B sensation, Akon announced that construction for his futuristic pan-African city will begin next year, AP News reports. The $6 billion project will still proceed despite global tourism’s uncertain future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the hit film, “Black Panther,” Akon first set his sights on creating a utopian city back in 2018 and has described it as a “real-life Wakanda,” much like the technologically advanced fictional African place portrayed in the film. Akon hopes his city will serve as a “home back home” for Black Americans and others facing racial injustices. His aim is also to provide much-needed jobs for Senegalese. “The system back home treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. And they only go through it because they feel there is no other way,” Akon said, according to AP News. Born in the United States — to Senegalese parents — the “Lonely” singer spent the majority of his...
Georgia-based construction company, C.D. Moody Construction , started from humble beginnings. According to Shoppe Black , founder, C. David Moody, started the construction company in 1988 when he and his wife, Karla, were in debt. Suffering from financial hardships, the couple was forced to work from their bedroom. In September of 2019, David Moody became 49 percent partner in an affordable and market-rate housing, restaurants, retail, offices, and a performing arts center construction deal worth $650 million, Shoppe Black reports. C.D. Moody’s projects are now worth nearly $3 billion and the company has completed over 200 commercial projects. Along with raking in billions, the construction company makes room to give back to the Atlanta community. C.D. Moody mentors children in the Atlanta area by teaching them financial literacy and the value of hard work. The Moody family also set the tone in their own home by implementing the same mentorship system with their children. “Every...
Those who have been following along with corporate news in recent weeks may already be aware of president Donald Trump’s ongoing initiative to bring massive financial changes to the tech industry. The head of state and 34-time convicted felon previously announced multi-billion dollar deals with fintech giants including OpenAI, SoftBank and more. The collaboration, which has been titled Stargate , has drawn eyes from a number of tech industry heads, including Apple’s Tim Cook . Now, according to recent reports, Cook himself has announced an effort to invest $500 billion back into the United States economy, with specific plans to hire 20,000 new U.S. based employees over the next five years. Though Apple has always been at the forefront of American engineering and design, this announcement has come as quite a shock to some investors, considering Tim Cook’s outspoken stance on upholding DEI initiatives , in stark contrast to Trump’s demands. Clearly, Cook is able to compartmentalize...
Veolia North America, an engineering firm, has agreed to pay $53 million for its alleged role in the ongoing lead-tainted water crisis plaguing Flint, MI, since April 2014. In exchange for the settlement, Michigan has agreed to dismiss its civil lawsuit against the Boston, MA-based company, which will pay 26,000 individual Flint plaintiffs suing them in separate litigation, according to The Detroit News. “After years of drawn-out legal battles, this settlement finally closes a chapter for Flint residents,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on Feb. 21, 2025. “While no amount of money can fully repair the damage caused to the Flint community, these funds will provide additional resources to those directly impacted, especially Flint children, by this preventable crisis.” Flint’s water crisis started when the city, under state-controlled emergency management, switched its drinking water source from Detroit’s Lake Huron to the Flint River while construction was underway on the...
Paula Wright has built an empire of McDonald’s restaurants, having made history at the start of the franchise era. According to MetroWest Daily News, Wright and her late husband, Don, became New England’s first Black McDonald’s franchisees in 1984. Before venturing into the fast-food industry, she had a career in technology at IBM. “A co-worker of mine, her husband was in the business,” Wright told the outlet. “That’s how Don and I got involved.” Their first location was in a newly built mall in downtown Boston, MA. However, the business did not fare well due to low foot traffic, with capacity never more than 60%. “There just weren’t enough people there,” Wright recalled to the outlet. The couple then secured a second location, but once again, sales did not match their expectations, which they believe was due to construction for TD Garden, a multi-purpose arena that opened in 1995. However, success would come when they moved into the suburbs. “We lived in Sudbury (MA), so when we...
Last week, Apple announced plans to launch the latest product in their long-running line of budget-friendly phones . The device, which many consumers tentatively titled the iPhone SE 4, is expected to release later this month, with a presale kicking off on Feb. 21. The initial announcement came jam-packed with surprises and updates, leaving Apple loyalists with plenty of new specs to pour over. If you’re interested in learning more about the iPhone SE 4, we’ve got you covered, with a brief but thorough deep dive into the latest Apple announcements , and a look ahead at what we can expect from the actual smartphone hardware. What Is The iPhone SE 4? The iPhone SE series dates back to 2016, when Apple execs decided to offer a budget-friendly alternative to their standard numeric line of smart devices. Unlike its contemporaries, including the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the SE would offer the latest in iOS services crammed into the outdated body of a previous model. While the device...
If you’ve been keeping up with the news regarding emerging technology such as generative artificial intelligence , you’re likely already aware of popular services such as ChatGPT and Meta AI. While these models have been disrupting the tech space for the last few years, one relative newcomer, DeepSeek, has recently made major waves and completely shifted the cultural perspective on the financial and computational requirements of artificial intelligence. Per reports, DeepSeek showcases a nearly identical generative capability when compared to GPT-4o, despite costing a fraction of the price to develop. Within days of hitting the American market, DeepSeek has decimated multiple major stock prices for companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta. The headline-grabbing service has left investors and general consumers alike scrambling to catch up, asking questions about how this is all possible. Since DeepSeek is receiving such massive attention, now seems like as good a time as any to...