Business

Black Business Spotlight: Junita’s Jar

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — Junita Flowers has been in the cookie business for the past 10 years. She first launched her successful Favorable Treats in 2009, but an abusive marriage and divorce left her picking up the pieces. Instead of giving up, she relaunched with a purpose.

Published

6 years ago

July 16, 2019

Stephenetta isis Harmon

By Stephenetta (isis) Harmon

Junita Flowers has been in the cookie business for the past 10 years. She first launched her successful Favorable Treats in 2009, but an abusive marriage and divorce left her picking up the pieces. Instead of giving up, she relaunched with a purpose.

Her new cookie imprint, Junita’s Jar, not only offers up sweet treats but also provides healing for women affected by relationship violence and prevention for others. Since launching last summer, she’s focused on expanding her reach and using the power of food to connect communities.

The MSR caught up with the cookie entrepreneur to talk about her mission-driven company and her plans to change the world, one cookie at a time.

MSR: So can you tell me a little bit about Junita’s Jar?

Junita Flowers: Our mission is to bake hope into every cookie purchased. We have three different flavors — triple chocolate chip, oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip, and oatmeal raisin.

We are specifically focused on college students, because the 18 to 24 demographic is the largest impacted by relationship violence. And college students can impact change in our culture — sometimes faster than any other generation — because they’re willing to go against the odds and try things and support each other on a different level.

Ultimately, our goal is to reduce victim-shaming, create allies amongst peers, and then inspire students to take action beyond what we call our “Cookies and Conversation” event.

MSR: What does a Cookies & Conversation event look like?

JF: [Hosts] bring their friends together, they book the space. I bring in a panel of experts, I host the conversation, I bring in the cookies. I have someone that represents mental health talking about trauma, the impact of trauma on the brain, managing stress, and self-care. I have a medical professional [who] talks about what you can expect if you ever find yourself in a situation and what you can expect from the medical community.

And then I have a survivor who is no longer in trauma. If you go volunteer at a shelter, you’re meeting women in trauma and you sometimes don’t relate to them. But if you see a woman that’s now on the other side, you can kind of relate to her, like, “You had a regular relationship like I thought I had.”

We’re really trying to normalize, not so you can be okay with it but to let women know it can happen to any of us. One in four women [are victims of relationship violence]; that’s not just a stat, that’s real.

MSR: What inspired you?
JF: I am a survivor of domestic violence. It’s not a topic that I was necessarily passionate about, but I knew I was passionate about changing women’s lives and I didn’t want anyone to feel the way that I did. I knew that I wanted to create something different, something hope-filled. I didn’t want women to feel the way I did.

MSR: How does all this tie into cookies?

JF: Cooking was my emotional escape. During the craziness of the abusive relationship, I went back to what I knew and what brought me joy as a child — being in the kitchen. I am one of eight [children], and my grandmother used to come over every Wednesday to help my mom prepare meals, so we spent a lot of time in the kitchen making everything from scratch.

It was just the bonding that happened in the kitchen. And cookies are the thing that I decided to do. What fed me in the craziness is what now is going to feed my family and others — literally and figuratively.

Even though we sell cookies, I like to think that we’re a story-sharing platform. We use the cookies as an opportunity to spark conversation.

MSR: What’s next?

JF: I have my next C&C scheduled for August with a student nurses association, and then I have some conversations that I’m super excited about that are coming up that I’m hoping will lead me to my ultimate goal. I want every student-athlete that enters a college campus to go through our conversation series as a part of their orientation — sort of an education and prevention mechanism around sexual and domestic violence. So I’d like to partner with the NCAA.

MSR: Any other goals?

JF: Our tagline is “hope munches on,” so I would like to go around the world speaking and inspiring women — not just about relationship violence, but inspiring women to push beyond boundaries and pursue their purpose, because that’s an area where women tend to struggle the most. You could be 30 or 60 and still struggle with that whole thing around purpose.

MSR: Do you have any plans for retail?
JF: That’s sort of the next step as we build awareness and build our customer base. We’re at the University of Minnesota, in about five stores and the four bookstores on campus, and we’re in a store on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul. Once people are more aware of who Junita’s Jar is, we can have better success once we get on the retail shelves.

MSR: What advice would you give to someone who was looking to start a commercial business combining the social enterprise aspect?

JF: I think it all boils down to your why — why are you in business? How do you know if this is for you, if this is what you want to do? Think if you are really tapping into your “why.” You should dream about your why, research your why, plan your why, execute that why, celebrate that why, and then repeat it.

For more info, visit Junita’s Jar at junitasjar.com.

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

Stephenetta isis Harmon

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Business

Student Loan Collections Have Resumed: Here’s What You Need to Know

According to the DOE, 42.7 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in student debt. More than 5 million borrowers have not made a monthly payment in over 360 days and their loans have been declared “in default.” Another 4 million borrowers are in late-stage delinquency (91-180 days). As a result, there could be almost 10 million borrowers in default in a few months. If this happens, almost 25% of the federal student loan portfolio will be in default.

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) announced that its Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) resumed collection of its defaulted federal student loan portfolio on May 5.

The department has not collected on defaulted loans since March 2020.

‘Collections on defaulted federal student loans are resuming. This means that your tax refund or other federal benefits may be withheld,” reads an email affected borrowers in California and around the country received from the DOE last week.

“Later this summer, your employer may also be required to withhold a portion of your pay until you begin to repay your defaulted federal student loan,” the email continues.

“American taxpayers will no longer be forced to serve as collateral for irresponsible student loan policies,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a release.

The DOE is urging borrowers in default to contact the Default Resolution Group to make a monthly payment, enroll in an income-driven repayment plan, or sign up for loan rehabilitation. Later this summer, FSA will send required notices to begin administrative wage garnishment.

Student loan debt statistics among racial and ethnic groups reflect dramatic differences in financial health, habits, and resource availability from one community to the next, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Black and African American college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than White college graduates (Black and African American bachelor’s degree holders have an average of $52,726 in student loan debt).

“The level of concern here really depends on the reasons a borrower has not paid their federal student loans. If they don’t have the capacity, they may be overstretched,” Michele Raneri, vice president and head of research at TransUnion, said in a statement. “They may not know they have to pay them, may not be able to find the information on how to do so, or may not have a willingness to pay for one reason or another,” she said.

Top tips to manage any pending student loan payments include reviewing your student loan balance on your Dashboard.

Affected borrowers can visit their loan servicer’s website for assistance if needed. Setting up auto pay to ensure on-time payments is recommended. Individuals are also encouraged to review many loan forgiveness options and qualifications.

Most programs have strict eligibility requirements, but student loans can be forgiven under programs such as the following:

Public Service Loan Forgiveness for people who work for eligible government and nonprofit employers
Teacher Loan Forgiveness for people who work in eligible teaching jobs
Income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness for people who repay their loans on an eligible IDR plan
Total and permanent disability discharge for people with a disability that severely limits their ability to work

Learn about other loan forgiveness programs at Studentaid.gov.

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Bay Area

Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

4 hours ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Activism

Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

14 hours ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.