Entrepreneurs in Cedar Rapids IA Create Internet Radio Startup for Black Community

Karl Cassell and Gregory Jackson, principals of Our Community, LLC decided to fill a void in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with the creation of an Internet radio station KOJC.com. The startup borrows its name from a now defunct broadcast entity that went out of business in the 1990s. The first station was a community station run by a local non-profit, Oakhill-Jackson Community. Cassell and Jackson’s venture is for profit though they’ve yet to start turning one.

Cassell continues to keep his day job as executive director of the Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission as Jackson, a former Rockwell Collins engineer tends to the day-to-day operations of the Internet station. Both have leveraged their relationships and backgrounds to develop support for KOJC.com.

The Cedar Rapids GazetteOnline.com reports:

Cassell and Jackson started the venture with their own money, and are covering operating expenses until the station gains a sound financial footing. The station’s slogan is “Keep on jamming continuously,” and that’s what it does, operating from the Paul Engle Center for Neighborhood Arts, 1600 Fourth Ave. SE. Cassell and Jackson hope to attract advertising and contributions from community organizations and large employers who agree with the station’s goals of community engagement and projecting a positive image for Cedar Rapids’ African-American community. Jackson gets excited when he talks about the growing traffic on the site. The New KOJC gets hits from as far away as Slovenia and Spain.

(Photos courtesy GazetteOnline.com/Stephen Mally)

Category: Launches, Startups, web 2.0 | Tags: Cedar Rapids IA, Gregory Jackson, Internet Radio, Karl Cassell, KOJC.com, Oakhill-Jackson Community, Our Community LLC