Atlanta’s business community continues exploring how to grow the city’s Black entrepreneurs

The Morehouse Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week with the release of a new report on the state of Black business in metro Atlanta – The Building Black Business Report 2024. “One of the things we found was a lot of support around initiation, right, startup support, but much more was needed at the scaling,” said Thema Monroe-White, the lead researcher on the MIEC research report. The researchers say disproportionate access to government contracts, denied loans and weak social resources continue to hold back Black small business owners. “Closing a gap for Black businesses between Black business owners and non-Black business owners is an economic boom for the entire region,” adds Monroe-White. “More jobs, more money flowing, more revenue, more profitability in the region. That’s what we all want.” According to the report, metro Atlanta is home to over ten thousand Black businesses. However, only 3% are able to hire paid employees.