NEW YORK, Feb. 7, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Empowerment 2000, Inc. (E2K), the New York- based subsidiary of The New York Christian Times, plans to announce that it will merge with the Carver-Curtis Laboratories and Natural Health Options, Inc., the independent subsidiary that distributes the Carver-Curtis products. The proposed merger will take effect on February 17, 2001, and will be announced during a press conference at the corporate headquarters of Empowerment 2000, located at 1061 Atlantic Avenue, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Friday, February 9, 2001 at 11 am.
Empowerment 2000, Inc., formed over a year ago to market the PowerCard, a consumer discount card that is accepted in thousands of locations in the tri-state area, has a network of several hundred churches and a growing base of consumers who, according to David C. Thomas, Vice President of Market Development, are ready to embrace the Carver-Curtis health and lifestyle products. Consumers can get information by calling (718) 638-LIVE.
Dr. George Washington Carver, one of America's most celebrated African-American heroes, who is well recognized as one of America's leading scientists and inventors, personally developed several of the peanut and soy-based products along with his assistant, Dr. Austin W. Curtis, a Cornell University graduate who retired less than two years ago at the age of 93.
The merger between the two entities was facilitated by a New York investment group that believes that E2K and Carver-Curtis are a perfect match. "This historic merger between Carver-Curtis and Empowerment 2000 will prove very fruitful to all parties, and will tell the world about the great work of George Washington Carver and Austin Curtis. American consumers -- particularly African- Americans -- will benefit greatly from these very useful health and nutritional products. This is a new and historic day for African-Americans," explained Dr. E. Faye Williams, a Washington, D.C., attorney and former congressional counsel who will assume the role of president for the merged entity, E2K-CarverCurtis.
Rev. Dennis A. Dillon, the publisher of The New York Christian Times and chairman of Empowerment 2000, Inc., will be the company's CEO, and plans to expand its reach into new African-American markets across the country. "The Carver-Curtis line and the E2K PowerCard are great products that must touch consumers everywhere," he shared. "And with Black and Latino spending projected to exceed $153 billion in New York and New Jersey alone, the opportunities are endless."
George Washington Carver is responsible for the development of over 300 products from the peanut, including the Carver-Curtis Miracle Rubbing Oil, which was created over 60 years ago and remained a very popular product used frequently by former president Dwight Eisenhower and automobile inventor Henry Ford, a friend of Carver's. The Carver-Curtis Miracle Rubbing Oil offers relief from pain and has also been referred to as RingMaster, Fortex, and other assumed names.
The company also plans to announce that consistent with Carver's and Curtis' commitment to empowerment, low cost distributorships will now be available. "Black History Month is a good time to bridge the gap between great Black inventors of the past and these young, progressive business leaders and marketers of the present," said Roy Hastick, president of the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
A press conference to announce the merger will be held on Friday, February 9, 2001, at 11:00 a.m. call (718) 638-LIVE for information regarding George Washington Carver Products and E2K. Representatives of the Carver-Curtis Laboratories (Detroit), Natural Health Options, and E2K will be available to answer questions from the press.
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CONTACT: C. Ottley Strategies
Consuelo Patterson
(212) 486-4255