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Incorporated in
1989, the corporation was founded and formed by brothers, Willie W. Clark, Jr.,
and Earl E. Clark. Clark Companies
was developed to create an outlet for the purpose of retail sales and wholesale
operations. The brothers are from
North Carolina
and the home of the Corp. was in this state. Also, the brothers are experts in
the field of Telecommunications and Public Communications, respectively.
Earl
holds a bachelor's degree in public Communications from
N.C.
State
University
at
Raleigh
,
N.C.
and Willie first learned Telecommunications in the U.S. Army.
After his discharge he went on to earn his Master's Degree in
Telecommunications at
N.C.
State
University
at
Raleigh
, with a minor in Computer Science.
Willie,
the eldest of the two brothers, visited Mardi Gras in
New Orleans
in 1995. He decided after that visit to settle in
New Orleans
and founded WEBSITE! Soon, he realized the need for a professional full time
site to service the Mardi Gras community and the tourists that visit the area,
after he could find nothing on Mardi Gras during the summer months in between
seasons. He then conceived and later built the site Mardi
Gras Coconuts .Com, (called MGC) the only Internet Website which was
dedicated to the Mardi Gras community of fans and visitor's, online, yearlong.
The
format of the website would incorporate news, weather, and articles on Mardi
Gras with an in-depth look at the Mardi Gras culture along with researched
reports year round. The websites’ second mission is to aid tourists in their
trips to the
New Orleans
area. Looking to become the most comprehensive site, MGC continued to evolve
while improvising solutions to perceived web problems. At the same time the site
sold specialty Zulu coconuts online to cover it's cost of operations.
In 2002, however, Marian Clark, Willie's wife, helped found Mardi
Gras Digest, the online guide to Carnival Online!
Marian has over 30 years experience in the business and the hospitality
industry. She has a Certification
in Human Resource Management, Sales and Marketing and a Bachelors Degree in
Business Management. She took over the news operations from MGC to concentrate
fully on the news aspect and the tourism market, which was very well received by
the New Orleans Carnival community and abroad.
In 2006, after Katrina, many difficulties were encountered, mostly
financial, which the company was not fully prepared to deal with and the news
site suffered. To compound matters, our company president, did not realize the
dire situation until it was almost too late to act. We at MGD are determined to
offer the carnival community and those that visit regions that host Mardi Gras,
a vehicle that will serve as a direct line to businesses and news about
organizations that may be of interest.
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Clark
Companies of North Carolina, Inc. 
