June 01, 2018 (Atlanta,GA)— On May 24th the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Apex Business Awards, which honors businesses for their outstanding standards in business development, employee programs, business innovation and contribution to Dekalb County and the metro Atlanta area. This year’s awards featured community leaders such as Ted Cummings, Chair of Onyx MS Group; Sharon Macaluso, Co-Chair of Small Business Advisory Council Area Director at the University of Georgia; Wendy Corona, from Channel 2 Action News; Rachea Brooks, from Dekalb Chamber of Commerce; Katherina Taylor, President & CEO of Dekalb Chamber of Commerce; and James Bailey, President & CEO of Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Among the people honored this night was haircare entrepreneur Cornell McBride Jr., CEO of McBride Research Laboratories, who received the Business of the Year Award in the $10-20M category.
Hailing from a family of beauty trailblazers in African American hair care, Cornell McBride Jr. is the second generation CEO of McBride Research Laboratories and President of internationally renowned hair care line Design Essentials®. A multimillion-dollar business, Design Essentials was conceived by Cornell McBride Sr. and gained widespread notoriety upon the launch of their first product “Sta-Sof-Fro,” released in the 1980’s, which was the first black hair softener on the market at the time. The company has grown exponentially since and McBride Sr. established Mcbride Research Laboratories in 1990.
Becoming president of Design Essentials in 2010, Cornell McBride Jr. has grown the company exponentially in the ever-shifting and growing world of beauty. An example of his innovation was the launch of Design Essentials Naturals®, which was developed to give naturally curly and kinky hair luxurious nourishment. This line also features vitamin drops, scalp itch relief, thermal protectant cream, and curl enhancing hydration milk. Within nearly 30 years, the company has expanded on a global scale nurturing ethnic hair around the world. McBride’s ability to stay in pace with the fast track beauty world, releasing fresh new products that outperform sales forecasts while accelerating growth across mass retailers and globally, makes it obvious why McBride Research Laboratories was awarded Business of the Year by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.
“Something we always try to make sure to do as a company is to see what difference do we make to our stakeholders, our consumers, our employees, and even our community,” says Cornell McBride Jr. in his acceptance speech. “The goal is to wake-up every day figuring out ‘how can I make a difference?’ It’s not what you can do for me…our thought process is always what can I do for you?”
