- Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Berkeley College Education drives opportunity.

Be inspired.

- Hello and welcome to Pathway to Success.

I'm your host, John Harmon, founder, president and CEO of the African-American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

When you think about technology, you know, running fiber optic lines and in smart cities and connecting people who may not have access to wifi and broadband, and you come to a city called Newark, New Jersey, you may find an interesting gentleman by the name of Garth Na.

He is the CEO of Avatar Tech.

Welcome to Pathway to Success, Garth.

- Thank you John.

Thank you for having me today.

- Well, listen, we got a lot to unwrap here.

You, you kind of a 21st century and beyond thinking person.

Let's slowly unpack who Garth Na is.

- Alright, so I'll, I'll take you all way back to my background.

Born in the Bronx, New York Gold Knicks I have with Jamaican parents.

So I had an interesting mix of great food culture.

- You come from a big family?

Small family.

- Just me and my brother.

Okay.

And my, and my mom and dad.

Okay.

But my extended family is, is very large - Education.

Let's slow it down and unpack education.

Where did you start to, to learn and understand and appreciate technology and engineering?

- Well, it started with stories.

Okay.

Of my dad's grandfather who worked on the Panama Canal.

I, I heard those stories and I thought about how grand of a project, Panama Canal was huge infrastructure project of that time.

And that planted a seed and made me interested in learning more about what an engineer is or what they do.

I got accepted to Brooklyn Technical High School.

It's one of the three, at the time, one of the three specialized high schools that very competitive to get into.

And I chose an electrical engineering major at that high school.

- Your name?

na, NAAR.

What did that come from?

- It's actually a, a Sephardic Hebrew name with its origins in North Africa and, and the Mali Empire.

You might, you might be familiar with the Moores and some of that history, you know, how they traveled and brought a lot of the knowledge that they had in universities like Timbuktu and spread throughout the world.

Europe included, particularly Spain, but they also tra they also traveled to the new world many years, hundreds of years before Columbus and continue to trade all up until the, the Mali Empire was pretty much destroyed or decimated with European invasion in Africa.

- No, I think that's an interesting history.

I mean, just knowing your origin, your ancestry and connecting the dots.

- But as I continued my education and went to the National Treasure Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, I studied electrical engineering.

But I had to take a very interesting class that opened my eyes up even more called, you know, the African diaspora class.

And it was at, in that class that I got introduced to a book called, they Came before Columbus, written by Dr. Ivan Van Erma, a legend here in Newark, Rutgers Newark as a professor.

He did prolific work on discovering some of the connections and the trade that was happening between West Africa and the New world.

It, it was, you know, it just furthered my curiosity in engineering and the fact that they were generations later you had a more helping to build the Panama Canal.

And I just, you know, doubled down into my studies as an electrical engineer and, and eventually obtained my electrical engineering degree from the National Treasure Morgan State University Gold Bears.

- You know, I caught this national treasure and I, I will tell you into the viewing audience, this is the first time I ever heard National Treasure at Morgan State.

So, so let's note that the thing that caught my attention, when you reference you reading this book about the untold stories that inspires you in and caused you to go a little deeper and also help you with your career trajectory.

Now, today we have people wanting to discard history.

You totally erase history as if it never happened.

So where did you land your first job and what were you doing?

- So, okay, so my first job out of college, it was at Bellco, right here in Piscataway, New Jersey.

- So after Bellco, did you work for another corporation?

- No, I stayed there eight years and I started off in systems engineering, putting networks together.

I I did some time with software programming, software engineering.

I, I got a real broad exposure to the telecom industry and they flew me, you know, all over the world, honestly.

Wow.

To roll out software.

And I had the opportunity to work on four patents on teams while at Belco.

But when it was time to go, it was time to go.

- You know, it's a different mindset.

I'm sure you will, will agree to go from a a nine five guy to an entrepreneur.

- It, it didn't come without great deliberation.

I was also investing in real estate at the time and I bought a property in South Orange, New Jersey that I was renovating.

And a guy came in and said, stop what you're doing.

I'm gonna bite it off of the, bite it off you as is right.

I bought it for like 350,000 and he wanted to buy it for 550,000.

Okay.

And it, and it worked out that I would probably make about 150,000 once I sell this.

I've got a year's salary.

I could put that in the bank and at least I know I could take care of myself for one year and, and, and, and, you know, start, start my business.

So that - Ultimately led to you starting your business in the name?

- I actually started a business in, in real, real estate development to my mom's dismay because she told everybody at the, at her job that, you know, that, you know, her son's an engineer, right?

And then she's like, what am I'm gonna say now my son, the flipper, you know, poor - Mob.

- I, I said mob, you know, just tell him, you know, your son, the business owner, right.

- Hanging in mob, hanging in soon, soon.

Come soon.

Come - Soon, come.

Right.

So did, did that, had an exciting time.

But I started to miss my engineering applying a lot of my engineering skills, then I started Avatar Tech.

Starting and running your own business is extremely excruciatingly difficult.

You have to have a strong why.

You have to have strong passion and commitment to doing what it is you want to do.

And we initially started by developing mobile apps.

We did one for now Mayor Adams, when he was the Brooklyn Borough President.

We created an app called Brooklyn Quality of Life that was picked up by front page of the Daily News and 60 publications worldwide.

And with the success of the Brooklyn Quality of Life app, I started to look more towards cities to see what kind of solutions can we solve with cities using software.

When I started talking to folks that I knew in Newark, I quickly got to realize that they had a bigger issue.

And that was, what are we gonna do with all of this fiber that's underground?

And at the time, Newark was one of three cities that decided that they were going to use their dark fiber and connect commercial businesses and residential businesses and all and other municipal buildings with that dark fiber by utilizing their own city owned internet.

They, they save millions of dollars.

- So you're saying the city Newark has its own internet, like their own at and t or Verizon setup?

Is that what you're saying?

- Correct.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

That, that's how special the city is and how forward thinking, you know, the, the city is to have that.

And like when they got started doing this in 2016, you know, even many years later, they were only one of three cities that even in embarked on this kind of endeavor.

Now there are other cities that are building open access fiber optic networks, you know, throughout the us but Newark is one of the first.

Wow.

And it gave us an opportunity to be one of the few companies in the United States with that extensive background in building municipal internet.

So - This cabling or this foundational work enables cities to be more illuminated, more connected and major transportation hubs like New Jersey Transit, the Port Authority, Newark Airport, and so on and so forth.

- Exactly.

And when you think about all of the communications that has to happen between the traffic towers and the, the airplanes and, and, and the airports and themselves, that all of that stuff works seamlessly because that infrastructure is there and that infrastructure has been built out.

- Last thing I'm gonna say, we'll take a break.

During the pandemic, when the kids were home and they had to communicate to do their homework by way of the internet, they needed wifi to speak to what your technology or the work you do, how did that impact and enable those kids to be connected?

- When the lockdowns happened and the kids were told to go home, we found out the hard way that a many of these children could not show up to class because they did not have adequate bandwidth or they're, you know, they had a connection.

But mom had to use it for work, dad had to use it for work.

Just couldn't handle all of those connections.

So, so the mayor had an opportunity because they have their own municipal internet.

He, he decided he wanted to connect all of the recreation centers throughout Newark.

There's about seven or eight recreation centers that we got the call to connect back to the Office of Emergency Management and, and 1 65 Halsey major data center for the whole East coast region.

We were able to connect all of that up to those recreation centers so that at least in each ward, kids had an option to go to their recreation center and attend their classes.

- So Garth, I mean, you clearly laid a great foundation on what this whole connectivity is all about.

And, but on the next segment, we really want to go into the, the many projects you've been involved in, in the Ultimate Impact.

We'll be back in a moment on Pathway to Success.

- The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey is your pathway to success.

We encourage you to visit our website at www.aaccnj.com or call us at six oh nine five seven one one six two.

We are your strategic partner for success.

- Welcome back to Pathway to Success, your host, John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Congress of New Jersey.

I'm here with Garth Na, CEO of Avatar Tech.

So let's talk a little bit about some of the projects you're involved - In.

Excellent.

I'm glad you asked that because you know, that work has, you know, given us an opportunity to do a lot of work from soup to nuts, from laying the foundation to support all of the great, you know, wireless connections that we have and, and the applications that run.

And I, I want to take this time to say that, you know, I couldn't do all of this without my family and my wife and my team at work.

We have a great team of professionals that, that manage the work.

We have a great team of field techs that get certified and do this work day in and day out.

And, and they take it very seriously and they adhere to the corporate culture that I pass down that includes, you know, honest hard work with integrity.

So we've wired inside the gateways one, two, and four.

We've wired up Prudential building here on Broad Street.

The list goes on and on a number of municipal buildings and public safety buildings as well.

- So what other types of opportunities do you see in the marketplace that the Avatar Tech is pursuing?

- So we, we continue to maintain and, and res do emergency responses and expand networks for cities that we're working in.

We see great opportunities for growth, serving the needs of, of our, of our ports in our regions.

We see great opportunities for growth with, with the city and providing more smart city solutions like the air quality sensors that we installed throughout Newark, where we're gonna continue smart city innovation by deploying sensors in more applications like parking sensors.

And, and we look forward to working with, you know, other departments - Value proposition.

So I'm approaching Avatar Tech.

What would you say is your value proposition and or why should someone consider your organization for some of these technological opportunities?

- My extensive background in engineering and and technology is that we bring it to bear.

We're located right here in downtown Newark.

When we respond to emergency breaks, you know, we are, we're there in many times hours before our, our nearest competitor.

We we're hiring in the neighborhoods that, that we work, right?

And not only are we hiring in the neighborhoods that we work, I have a partnership, I have partners that have partnered with me to provide education and certification.

We got the first ever department of Labor funding grant through the Essex Community College to certify people, 40 students free of charge in broadband careers.

So these folks will get this education, they'll come out and we'll be looking to place them in companies like mine and other companies.

And we're collaborating with a bunch of different technology companies to make sure that they have all the opportunities in the world that they can get in the broadband field.

- So what you just referenced to me is you're gonna do well and good at the same time.

So as the CEO of Avatar Tech, what is a typical day like for you?

- Oh wow.

So typical day, you know, I'm is - There if there is such a thing.

Yeah, - There is such a thing.

Well, you know, I'm a I, I'm a I'm a family man.

So I, you know, I start up, I start off at six o'clock and then my wife tells me, you know, which kids I gotta take to school.

But I, I relish that opportunity 'cause that's my time to spend with them and instill That's great.

Instill my programming.

You know, so I, you know, on the drive there, you know, I'm asking them what they're gonna do today.

You know, they better tell me something like they're gonna ask, ask the most questions, answer most questions, you know, look in the eye of the person they're talking to, you know, they need to say things that they're gonna have fun.

You know, so I, I relish that opportunity.

So I I I get that outta the way first.

I make my way down to the office.

Usually our guys huddle at about eight o'clock and we go over the different projects that we're gonna work on or where we're getting deployed to.

And you know, I have, I, I have, you know, I have to check my calendar essentially.

'cause every day is, you know, pretty busy.

You - Have the experience, the technological background, you have the capacity, you have the team, but some opportunities are still eluding you.

And I'm not putting words in your mouth, but can you speak to those experiences as well?

- Oh yeah.

The, if you - Had the time.

- Yeah, yeah.

No, I've had, I've had many, too many to count.

We've corded different carriers year, year and a half, two years.

And, and, and they've gotten to the point where they're like, you guys are great.

You, you, you got everything we need.

But, but we need you to, you know, subordinate to another company that we, that we've given a, a a, a prime contract to or, or we want you to utilize your back office to do the permitting fast to help this company get past that quicker.

And, but, but they'll do the work and I guess under our name and, you know, weird stuff like that.

- They want you to be a pastor to, right.

Correct.

They, they, they will not allow you to do the, the level of work that's commensurate with your experie experience, your capacity and your ability, but relegate you to something at the second or third tier level where your margins are smaller and if you sneeze, you're gonna lose money.

Is that what you're saying?

- Yes, the definitely.

And I've been in situations where I, I, we did do fiber to the home in Rockland County, New York, and we've worked for a major carrier and, and we've dealt with under their, their prime.

So we did accept some of those contracts and we've had problems getting payment.

Well, - What was it like following the murder of George Floyd in terms of opportunities versus now?

Can you compare the two?

- What happened with George Floyd?

I didn't realize the impact of that until later on.

I think after Covid I start to make the connection with the push to make sure that minority MBS MWBEs get a greater part participation on, on projects.

I see that more in New York City and the state of New York and well as the Port Authority, - But less than New Jersey in general, - Less than New Jersey.

I don't, I I didn't see that push or that, you know, that initiative in the state of New Jersey at all, to be honest.

- Gotcha.

It's a real problem and we gotta deal with it.

So what's, what is the most fulfilling part of you being an entrepreneur about being an entrepreneur and, and sources of inspiration for you?

- I wanna say Rest in peace to Dr. Thomas Osa.

Mensa from Ghana is credited for inventing fiber optics.

He passed away maybe only three weeks ago.

This brother has holds, you know, 15 patents or something to that effect in, in fiber optics.

But he is one of many people that let me understand that, you know, it's not just about understanding technology.

You know, I mentioned something earlier about, you know, at coming up and having knowledge of self, right?

Because being in a lot of these spaces where there's not a lot of people that look like me, you have to have that feeling of, you know, of knowing that you belong there.

Right.

And what other, what better feeling of knowing you belong there than having the knowledge and understanding the people that even that created this stuff and, and the people that looked like me that patented this, these innovations.

I draw inspiration from Catherine Johnson, right?

When I was, I was at Morgan State University, I interned with nasa.

Dr. White took me under his shoulder and, and brought me into the NASA research.

I don't know if I would've got this, that opportunity going to a big major state college.

There's so many people that inspired me along, along the way.

My, my dad who left his corporate job and started a, a printing business on Boston Road in the Bronx, right.

Seeing him venture out there as an entrepreneur let me know that it's, it's possible.

It, it, it could be, it can be done.

It's not gonna be easy, but you know, you, you can do it.

And when I left my engineering job, I, I had trepidation as well too.

I, I was wondering if I'm making a wrong move, giving up these benefits and, and, and, and all this money.

And I looked up, I was watch, I used to watch VH One Soul a lot and, and binge, binge watch those videos.

And a video came on from Jill Scott and she was singing, I'm Living My Life.

Like I'm golden golden.

And, and, and she was, she was in full color.

Everybody was rushing to work in, in, in, in Gray in the video.

And I took that as a sign.

I took that as a sign to say push forward, push forward.

Young man.

And I, I took it's time from, from the most high - Last question.

The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, you are a member and a President's Club member of, of the Chamber.

What does it mean to be a part of the Chamber and would you recommend it for others to consider?

- I first got introduced when I went on a, a great golf alley, right?

Got to meet a bunch of great, great folks with great businesses that I want to be around.

And it's been a wealth of connections, resources, networking, and comradery amongst other like-minded businesses.

- Good.

So Garth, Garth na Yes.

N-A-A-R-C-E-O of Avatar Tech.

Thank you for being the guest today on Pathways of Success.

- It's my pleasure.

Thank you for having me.

- Well again, thank you until the next time on your Pathway to Success.

This is John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey.

Thank you for tuning in.

Today's message is where do we Go From here?

Recently we mourn the passing of Congressman Donald Payne Jr. From the 10th Legislative District here in the state of New Jersey.

Prior to which we lost our lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, also from Newark.

And proceeding her was Senator Ronald Rice, who was head of the Black Caucus, one of the leading voices of advocacy and inclusion of black people in New Jersey.

What these three individuals have in common, they were all from Newark, new Jersey's, largest city, new Jersey's, a city we're in the highest concentration of black and brown people reside.

But these three individuals all worked tirelessly to demonstrate that black people mattered, that black people had value.

Black people were integral to the success of New Jersey, and now they're gone.

We just read this extensive disparity study here in New Jersey, which underscored the underperformance of blacks in New Jersey in all areas in construction and professional services and goods and services, we got less than half percent of the contracts.

Every day Black people are trying to demonstrate to society that they have value.

We heard in the interview today about the gentleman from, from Ghana, west Africa, who created fiber optic cabling.

You cannot have any communication in this world without the type of technology.

And so what I'm saying in closing is that without us America or New Jersey is not as great as it can be.

- The port for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Berkeley College education drives opportunity.

Be inspired.