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Antwain Thomas, President of Legion, Inc., has
established the ITM/Legion, Inc. Strategic Alliance, uniting with
ITM and Jack Craciun III,Chairman and CEO: ITM (China) Ltd. and ITM
(US) Ltd, for a common global purpose:“The First Dragon ” Global
Chinese Cross Cultural Enterprise.” The Alliance fulfills the global
purpose of Legion Inc. and is a perfect pairing of American global
entrepreneurial spirit.
Under the ITM/Legion Inc. Strategic Alliance,
Legion Inc. will exclusively provide the administration and
management of The First Dragon Foundation, The First Dragon
Publishing Company, including all intellectual property rights, such
as copyrights, trademarks, and patents, and the intellectual
property license rights of The Birth of The First Dragon motion
picture film.
Through the newly established ITM/Legion Inc.
Strategic Alliance, Thomas helped establish The First Dragon
Publishing Company which will be handling the release of The
FirstDragon Music Suite , The Made in Cleveland album and The First
Phoenix Music Suite , three unprecedented, culture defining albums
which merge the beats and vibes of China with the multi-cultural
musical legacy of The Rock & Roll Capitol of the World, Cleveland,
Ohio. The albums feature the work of ITM Associate Darren Anthony,
whose recent song “We Good” has been released as the second track on
rapper Fabolous’ new album The Young OG Project. YouTube hits on “We
Good”have soared to over800,000since the album’s release on
Christmas day 2014.
Lorinda Laughlin has chosen ITM’s expertise as a global
entrepreneurial leader to establish the ITM/ LL Group, Ltd.
Strategic Alliance. ITM’s agreement to form this alliance provides
Laughlin with the guidance and know-how to establish and run a
company with a focus that includes creating and managing consumer
product licensing contracts based on the intellectual property of
The First Dragon brand, spearheading cross-cultural educational
programs through The First Dragon Foundation and authoring
non-fiction works, through The First Dragon Publishing Company,
pertaining to the lives and dedications of American innovators such
as Ohio Horticulturalist Jared Potter Kirtland, and her grandfather,
Dr. R.R. Laughlin, a pioneering Ohio veterinarian and World War I
veteran.
Laughlin met Jack Craciun in 2013 and, after completing
significant research pertaining to The First Dragon Ltd. and the ITM/
EpAngelia Group Ltd. Strategic Alliance, including its President,
Fr. George Smiga, STD., ITM (US) Global Culture & History Research
Project Manager and author of “The First Dragon ” and “The First
Phoenix Manuscripts,” she realized the value of The First Dragon
Global Cross Cultural Exchange Enterprise, not only in economic
terms, but also as a tool to educate, enrich and empower people’s
lives all over the world. In 2014, Laughlin became a vested member
of ITM’s Board of Advisors and holds two Gross Profit Units and two
Consumer Product Licenses in The First Dragon Enterprise. She is
presently completing research on “The Yin and Yang Manuscript,” a
study of the balance between nature and humanity.
The ITM / Legion, Inc Strategic Alliance with Antwain
Thomas:
A Cleveland native and product of South Euclid-Lyndhurst Schools,
Antwain Thomas discovered early in life that music and computer
technology would have significant influence on his lifetime
pursuits. A classically trained Clarinetist and jazz saxophonist, he
received the highly coveted “John Phillip Sousa Award,” as well as
citations for his musicianship and performance with the Tri-C
JazzFest in 1995 and 1996. During this time he also was learning
computer technology, internet architecture, and how the world is
connected. Having attended Cuyahoga Community College, and Cleveland
State University in Cleveland, he used his affinity for music and
computer technology as an outlet for his creativity and set out on a
lifetime path of exploring his entrepreneurial spirit.
With Thomas’s roots deeply planted in Cleveland, making a
decision to enlist in the United States Navy was a life altering
experience that changed his perspective on the world. While serving
in Japanaboard the U.S. Naval aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk
(CV-63), he created the concept of “Legion Inc.,” a business idea
that would redefine his purpose in life and return him back to
Cleveland. Returning to Cuyahoga Community College in the fall of
2010, he completed an Associates of Applied Science degree in
Recording Arts & Technology, marking a full circle of achievement.
Thomas attends The Elliot School of International Affairs at
The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and will
complete his studies in 2015. He is President of the GW Private
Equity and Venture Capital Club, a professional business association
that supports and engages its members in providing education about
Private Equity and Venture Capital industries, facilitating
opportunities in career and job placement and enhancing the learning
experience by exposing the student body to the financial community
at large. Thomasbelongs to several national organizations focused on
finance, including The Oxford Club, The Sovereign Society, The Palm
Beach Letter, and Forbes Inc.’s The World Money Show.
Active in national politics, Thomas works with the Ohio House
of Representatives under Rep. John Barnes Jr. on matters of Economic
Development and International Business. He is involved in the
military community in Washington DCboth as a member of GW Veterans,
an organization that fosters a supportive environment for student
veterans, and working with veteran business organizations to enhance
the focus on veteran entrepreneurs “vetrepreneurs” and their
potential for business success.As an intern of the Reserve Officers
Association in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 2012, Thomas
worked with the legislative department and Chief of Staff to effect
changes on Capitol Hill related to Reservist men and women.
In his commitment to the namesake of George Washington
University, Thomas is a member of the Luther Rice Society. Luther
Rice lobbied U.S. President Monroe and raised funds that lead to the
founding of The George Washington University over 200 years ago. The
Society celebrates philanthropic leadership in Rice’s memory, and
connects GW alumni, friends, and students to his legacy.
Upon completing his first year at The George Washington University,
Thomas accepted an invitation from Jack Craciun III to intern with
ITM to better prepare himself for the challenges of being a business
professional. As a student of global business with a global business
developer, Antwain spent valuable time working with ITM in its
multifaceted The First Dragon Global Cross Cultural Exchange
Enterprise,Multi-release News and Social Media, Intellectual
Property Licensing and Consumer Product Branding and Merchandising
Enterprise. As a result of his internship, Thomas was appointed to
the advisory board of ITM (US) Ltd. as their International Business
& Finance Affairs Advisor.
During the summer of his internship, Thomas was appointed to
the Community and Property Development Committee as a Director and
Advisor to the church council at St. Helena Romanian Byzantine
Catholic Church in Cleveland. The new committee spearheaded a "Five
Year Community & Property Development Plan” focused on enhancing its
local & global communities and the development of church property.St.
Helena is the first Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church built in the
Americas and has served as Eastern Europe’s global gateway to the
world for over a century.
After becoming involved with St. Helena’s, and
having been inspired by the beauty of the liturgy of the Mass and
the hospitality of the parish, Thomas decided to be baptized there,
in the same church where ITM Chairman/CEO Jack Craciun III, his
mentor and friend, had been baptized. On August 3, 2014, he became
the first African American to be baptized at St. Helena. Blessed to
serve as Godparents were Craciun and ITM Associate and friend
Lorinda Laughlin.
During his final year at GW, Thomas led an initiative of The
GW Private Equity and Venture Capital Club called “Semper Startup,”
a military entrepreneurship conference aimed at providing support
and creating a network of “vetrepreneurs”. In addition, Thomas has
been recommended and invitedto apply for the Clinton Global
Initiative, a program for student innovators, considered the next
generation of leaders, to develop innovative solutions to pressing
global challenges.
Thomas plans to use these experiences to support his
work with the ITM/Legion Inc. Strategic Alliance and The First
Dragon ” Global Chinese Cross Cultural Enterprise, to foster a
global business example that will help others realize their
potential in pursuing entrepreneurial objectives, using George
Washington and ITM as conduits to develop pathways of new
opportunities for future generations.
In November 2014, Thomas met with George Washington
University President Steven Knapp and the Dean of Student Affairs,
Peter Konwerski, and has laid the foundation for ITM to deliver The
First Dragon Global Chinese Cross-Cultural Exchange presentation in
Washington, D.C., enabling ITM to deliver an entrepreneurial
platform with economic support that will enhance the lives of
veterans and future generations to come.
The ITM/Legion Inc. Strategic Alliance has been formed to
foster the growth of the cross-cultural exchange branding platform
using ITM's global business model to launch Thomas’s global
enterprise, Legion Inc.Through this Alliance, Thomas will utilize
Legion and their exceptional resources to further develop Western
and Eastern cultures and their use of resources by contributing to
the global gateways and platforms ITM has developed over forty-five
years of highly successful Cross Cultural Exchange enterprises.
As ITM Group Global Project Management and Financial Engineering
Advisor, Thomas is directly involved in the organization of The
First Dragon Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit entity focused on
international educational programs, student exchange and
scholarships, as well as promoting global cross-cultural programs
designed to celebrate and support veterans of the U.S. Military and
their history of global sacrifice which has created prosperity and
freedom for people all over the world.
The ITM / LL Group Ltd. Strategic Alliance with Lorinda
Laughlin:
Ohio horticulturalist, Lorinda Laughlin cultivated her love of
plants at an early age under the guidance of avid gardener and
nature explorer, her mother, Grace Annette. Torn between her love of
horticulture and a keen interest in the social sciences, Lorinda
graduated from Baldwin Wallace College with majors in political
science and sociology. Subsequently trained at the Philadelphia
Institute, and certified in Litigation Management, Lorinda spent the
1980’s in the Labor and Litigation Departments of the
Cleveland-based international law firm, Squire Sanders and Dempsey.
In the 1990’s, Lorinda stopped working to devote
herself full time to the raising of her three children. It was
during this time spent with her children that she rediscovered her
first love, horticulture.
The next decade found Lorinda working with horticulturist,
multimedia educator and mentor, Susan Holmes Bercheck, then owner of
the historical 1928 garden center, Sunnybrook Farms Nursery in
Geauga County, Ohio, where she learned garden design, installation,
upscale flower garden improvement and organic maintenance
techniques, as well as plant propagation and retail sales. She was
able to put her design skills to work in the creations department,
designing custom container plantings and holiday arrangements for
long-time clients and retail sales.
Laughlin was employed at Sunnybrook until 2010. She
spent the following season as consultant to a new local garden
design and maintenance company, and creating custom arrangements for
retail sales. From 2012 to 2014, she held the position of head
designer for Perennials Preferred, Inc. in Chesterland, Ohio.
Today, Laughlin is a nationally certified horticulture
and design judge, and has judged as well as exhibited horticulture,
floral design and miniature landscapes throughout Northeast Ohio,
including the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. She enjoys speaking and
conducting workshops on gardening related topics for nurseries and
garden clubs and works with her own local club to raise funds for
scholarships to horticulture students and to design and maintain
gardensin her community’s public parks.
Laughlin is a member of the Ohio Judges Council, The
Cleveland Flower Arranger’s Guild, OFA Association of Horticulture
Professionals, The National Garden Club Central Atlantic Region,
Garden Clubs of Ohio, and the Garden Clubs of the Western Reserve.
Laughlin also sits on the Board of Managers of the ITM/Legion, Inc.
and the ITM/Darren Anthony Group Strategic Alliances.
Guided by Dr. Smiga and Jack Craciun, III,
Laughlin is now performing research to complete a manuscript that
will perfectly complement Dr. Smiga’s work pertaining to “The Birth
of Chinese Culture” and “The Early Stage Evolution of Chinese
History.” The “Yin and Yang Manuscript” will deliver a study of
China’s profound relationship with nature, revealing insight into
their view of the world and clarifying their contributions to
mankind in fields such as medicine, art, literature and philosophy,
thus furthering ITM’s interest to promote a mutual understanding of
cultures through education and entertainment.
The First Dragon global enterprise is
designed to promote extraordinary recognition and economic rewards
for ITM, its venturers, sponsors, and their communities, and it will
serve to enhance the development of consumer product manufacturing,
distribution, and sales within the birth place of The First Dragon
and The First Phoenix , Cleveland, Ohio.
Both Thomas and Laughlin are confident that the spirit of The
First Dragon will continue to carry it forward, ensuring success in
its goal to enhance the human condition here and around the world.
They further believe there is no limit to the level of positive
social impact and financial reward of The First Dragon Enterprise,
so long asventurers and service providers continue to come forward
with the integrity and capacity to enhance its global mission. |
