Dee Brown, President and CEO of The P3 Group

Patricia O'Connell interviews Dee Brown, President and CEO of The P3 Group about what a Public-Private Partnership (P3) is, and what impact P3 development projects have on under-served communities. Dee talks about his career in real estate, infrastructure development, and P3 real estate development. He shares his early history and the duty he feels toward the communities he serves. Dee is always learning, always growing, and always getting up at 3:30 a.m. because he always wants to do better at the work he loves.

Listen in to learn more about entrepreneurship in under-served communities in the P3 space with Dee Brown.

Key Takeaways:

[:29] Patricia O'Connell introduces Dee Brown, President and CEO of The P3 Group.

[:34] The P3 Group is the nation's largest minority-owned real estate developer that focuses exclusively on Public-Private Partnerships. Dee has nearly 30 years of experience in real estate sales, development, construction, and management. He is also the host of The Sky's the Limit podcast, produced by Forbes Books.

[1:41] Dee used his "stick-to-it-ness" to move past some challenges and technical difficulties that might have prevented today's episode from being recorded. In business, almost all the time, the first answer is "No," so Dee has always found a way to overcome objections and push forward to get to the goal.

[2:45] Dee describes his response to hearing "No." He tries to understand the reason behind the "No," to determine how to move forward. There are a variety of reasons a person might object.

[4:04] Dee sometimes has to educate agencies and leaders of organizations that The P3 Group's model and execution strategy is a superior delivery method.

[4:36] Dee explains the meaning of a Public-Private Partnership between a private-sector company and a unit of government. Dee talks about the goals of a Public-Private Partnership agreement. The P3 Group provides all the expertise and carries the risk.

[6:33] Dee describes the several risk mitigation tools The P3 Group uses to mitigate their risks as developers.

[8:55] The team at The P3 Group has expertise in business development, business operations, administration, client services, and client relationships. Dee's son has recently been promoted to President of Client Services.

[10:56] Dee has a goal to pass the business along to his son and future generations.

[11:47] Dee shares how he migrated from traditional real estate and real estate development to the P3 world. When the 2008 recession hit, he moved into highway, street, and bridge construction by acquiring a construction company. As his business grew, he started doing work for federal agencies.

[12:50] After working on infrastructure construction projects, Dee began to apply his new knowledge of Public-Private Partnerships to real estate development.

[13:26] Many of the projects The P3 Group executes, such as fire stations, municipal courthouses, public safety complexes, and more, are in under-served communities. Any type of government organization may use its services. The P3 Group has about $1 billion worth of projects in planning or in process in its pipeline.

[14:35] Why does The P3 Group concentrate its work in under-served communities?

[15:26] Dee tells what it means to him to be the largest minority-owned developer in the P3 space and the duty he feels to the communities he serves. These projects are transformational in the landscape of a community.

[16:30] Dee grew up in a very impoverished community in the Mississippi Delta. He beat the odds to get where he is at The P3 Group. In the community where Dee was raised, there is still a lot of need and hopelessness. Dee goes into a community and provides services that bring hope and that inspire.

[17:28] The P3 Group has donated money to community colleges for scholarship programs. Dee and his team try to be good examples of what you can do if you put your mind to it and make good, sound decisions. They try to be visible in the community. They run a math and reading academy for K‒3 through their non-profit organization.

[18:44] The non-profit foundation at The P3 Group has been organized as a 501(c)(3) for two years. The foundation was started in 2014. Dee tells of some of the work the foundation does. Currently, the foundation is partnering with The P3 Group to develop student housing and student unions on HBCU campuses.

[20:05] Dee, from his childhood, always had the mindset that he wanted to be successful. He was always looking for entrepreneurial opportunities to make money. Because of that, he has never punched a clock for anyone. He has always "eaten what he's killed."

[20:56] Why the lion is the king of the jungle: When the lion sees an elephant, he thinks about lunch. When the elephant sees a lion, he thinks about running. Dee has the mindset of a lion. He always looks for ways to succeed. He gets up at 3:30 every morning to work. Some people do not have the discipline to succeed.

[23:12] Dee recommends three habits for highly successful people. Success is not a smooth journey but a series of failures that you have to overcome for some period. You can't start at the end. You start at the beginning. Do more than you get paid to do.

[25:46] Follow your dreams. Find something that you're passionate about, something that you believe in, something that inspires you, and then use that to build your business model around. Dee doesn't have a problem with working every day because he loves what he does. He loves the impact that his business has on communities.

[28:36] Patricia thanks Dee for appearing on This is Capitalism CEO Stories.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Dee Brown

DeeBrownCEO.com

The P3 Group

Brown Foundation Community Development Corporation

HBCUs

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