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Prince George County

The Most Affluent African-American County In America ...THE PRINCE GEORGE'S MARYLAND STORY

Mitchellville, MD (BlackNews.com) - The New York Times ran a story on June 14, 1992 in The New York Times Magazine titled "The New Black Suburbs" by David J. Dent, featuring Prince George's County, MD. The cover photo featured the Johnson family, Jack B. and Leslie Johnson with their sons Jack Jr. and Zachary outside their home in Paradise Acres, a predominantly Black upper-middle-class neighborhood in Mitchellville, which is located in Prince George's County, MD.

At the time of the story Jack B. Johnson was a Prince George's county prosecutor; the county was 51% Black with a total population of 729,268. In addition, the County Executive was Parris Glendening, a white male who later became the Governor of the State of Maryland. Ironically, ten years later Jack B. Johnson became only the second African American to hold the position of County Executive and is one of only two African Americans who hold the position of County Executives in the United States.

According to a recent study on African American buying power by the University of Georgia, Prince George's County is the most affluent county in the country. In fact, its statistical contribution has made Washington DC the second most affluent African-American market and the number one city with the largest affluent African-American suburb. Currently, the population of Prince George's County is 850, 384 with African Americans comprising 62.7%.

Prince George's County has also become the Mecca for African Americans when seeing employment opportunities with its large number of African-American owned businesses such as Radio One the nation's largest African American owned radio broadcast network.

Gaylord National Resorts, which will become the largest combined hotel and convention center in the Washington, D.C. region, is building on the banks of the Potomac River, in Prince George's County's National Harbor. Gaylord National Resorts, which is the largest hospitality industry project to break ground outside of Las Vegas, is scheduled to open in March 2008. The 500 million dollar project will provide over a minimum of 150 million dollars for minority businesses in Prince George's County. The National Harbor, which is a mixed-use urban waterfront village covering 225 acres along one and one quarter miles of the Potomac River, is the largest development in the history of Prince George's County. With that said, no wonder Prince George's County has a very hot climate for minority businesses!

Not only is Prince George's County, MD the most affluent, but also one of the best managed Counties in the US. There are 3,066 Counties in the United States. Prince George's County, MD alone with 39 other counties was selected in a group of 40 counties to determine how good a job most counties do at managing their finances, when they're allowed a reasonable amount of freedom. The 40 counties in Governing Magazine's "Government Performance Project" received an average grade of B- in Financial Management. Prince George's County with a B+ was tried for fourth place with first place going to Fairfax County, VA with a grade of A-.

The Prince George's story is a great story to tell...A County that is over 300 years old, one of the best managed, received the highest bond rating in its history this year and has a Livable Community Initiative that is one of the best in the country! And last but not the less, the most affluent African-American county in the nation!!

For additional information or questions; contact Nate Pope at npope@npjadvertising.com or call 202-263-4608.