Atlanta Takes Action to Support Legacy Black Businesses Amid Rising Commercial Rents

Atlanta’s Legacy Black Businesses: A Call to Action

Atlanta, known for its rich history and vibrant culture, is stepping up to support its legacy Black businesses. Recently, the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative (AWBI) released a report titled “Standing on Business”, which highlights the indispensable role these Black-owned businesses play in fostering community prosperity and wealth. Funded by the United Way, this report aims to turn the spotlight on the challenges and opportunities faced by legacy businesses, particularly in light of rising commercial rents.

The Origins of the Report

It all began about a year ago when the AWBI team set out on a mission to engage with Black business owners in the area. Starting in November 2023, they began a door-to-door effort to gather firsthand insights from the business community. The findings were finally published on August 20, just a day after the City of Atlanta announced a grant program aimed at supporting legacy businesses—an initiative in line with the recommendations made in the AWBI report.

Jarryd Bethea, the lead author of the report and a lifelong Atlanta resident, said, “This report is a labor of love and reflective of the kinds of businesses that I knew of growing up and making sure that they are being actively supported.” His personal connection to the city made the findings all the more poignant and urgent.

Uncovering Hidden Challenges

While compiling the report, the AWBI team faced a significant hurdle: the lack of readily available data on Black-owned businesses in Atlanta. Bethea expressed his surprise that, in a city where the majority demographic is Black, it’s challenging to pinpoint their businesses. “We don’t know where the Black-owned businesses are,” he lamented. This lack of data highlighted the urgent need for more comprehensive research into the racial dynamics that shape the city.

To navigate these gaps, the team scrutinized minority business certifications and business licensing data, supplemented by information from private companies like Dun & Bradstreet. The effort to gain quantitative and qualitative insights ensured a well-rounded picture of the business landscape.

The Impact of Rising Rents

One of the stark realities unveiled in the report is the unequal increase in commercial rents faced by majority-Black neighborhoods compared to their majority-White counterparts. While the absolute increase in rent in Black areas was lower, the rate of rise was significantly higher—a trend that could jeopardize the stability of these essential businesses.

Bethea recounted a touching story in the report concerning a coffee shop facing closure due to a staggering rent hike of 22.2%. “You read in the news that businesses are closing… but to have been in the midst of it in real time—it’s really interesting,” he said. Such anecdotes underscore the critical importance of qualitative data to genuinely understand the challenges local businesses face.

The Value of Black-Owned Businesses

But it’s not all doom and gloom! The report emphasizes that Black-owned businesses are invaluable assets to their communities. For instance, researchers found a correlation between the presence of these businesses and improved child well-being indexes. “For every additional small Black-owned business per Black resident, we could see a neighborhood’s well-being score increase by 1.8,” Bethea stated, indicating a direct link between community health and local entrepreneurship.

To further help support this growth, the report outlines five actionable recommendations. The recent announcement of the Atlanta Legacy Businesses program, prioritizing businesses that have been in operation for over 30 years, aligns with these recommendations and marks a positive step forward.

A Vision for the Future

Bethea is hopeful that this report will change how policymakers view and treat Black-owned businesses going forward. The vision is to create development strategies that honor the existing fabric of neighborhoods instead of prioritizing profits at the cost of community. He recalled a successful initiative from the past involving Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, where 25% of all procurement contracts for construction were awarded to minority firms, a move directed by the city’s first Black Mayor, Maynard Jackson.

“There are ways that developers can have mandates; if we’re going to write tax rebates, if we’re going to give out tax incentives, subsidize this and that, then I think there’s a good opportunity to be included,” Bethea emphasized, driving home the importance of intentional action.

A Bridge to Greater Equity

Ultimately, AWBI hopes that the findings will resonate not only with city officials and developers but also with the community itself. “Our conversations with business owners let us know that a majority of them who want to own their business want to do so in the neighborhood that they live in, and they want to work for those neighborhoods,” Bethea expressed, underlining the commitment of these entrepreneurs to not just run businesses, but to enrich their communities.