Two decades ago, Frederick E. Jordan and John William Templeton, founded Black Business Month, “to drive the policy agenda affecting the 2.6 million African American businesses” and to “highlight and empower business owners all over, especially given the unique challenges faced by minority business owners,” according to an online Black Enterprise magazine article.
“Since the late 1700s, both free and enslaved Black people began to open their own small businesses, from barbershops to tobacco outlets,” according to the Black Enterprise article, which noted that these businesses not only often failed to receive the patronage and financial support available to other businesses but in some instances were hindered and opposed. Jordan and Templeton chose to set aside August as a month to place special emphasis on the contributions and challenges of Black businesses.
Economic development organization Decide DeKalb announced the release of its inaugural DeKalb County Black Business Guide on Aug. 1, the first day of this year’s Black Business Month.
“We’re thrilled to present the DeKalb Black Business Guide, a platform dedicated to amplifying Black creativity, excellence, and entrepreneurship in our community,” said Terra Washington, Decide DeKalb’s vice president of marketing and communications. “By increasing the visibility of these businesses, we aim to recognize their invaluable contributions to our local economy as well as amplify their reach to bring them more potential customers and partners.”
Described in its introduction as a “comprehensive resource dedicated to highlighting and supporting Black-owned businesses in our community,” the guide lists more than 100 “carefully curated” businesses across the county. “We wanted this first edition to be really special,” Washington explained, “so we chose businesses that we know and confidently stand behind.”
The guide lists a wide variety of business types, including business support, retail, food and dining, and nonprofit. Washington explained that many businesses that wanted to be included in the guide were not accepted because they are not yet well established, are not in DeKalb County, or for other reasons.
The launch was held at Granite House Lofts, a site chosen as an example of Black entrepreneurship. The historic venue in downtown Stone Mountain, owned by husband-wife duo Shani and Jelani Linder, is a boutique-style short-term rental property with modern art deco décor housed in a restored granite building on Main Street. The couple explained that they had seen similar projects—old commercial properties reimagined as lodgings—and thought the idea would work well in the Atlanta area. The property’s two suites are themed dusk and dawn and are designed to suggest those transitional times of day.
Along with the owners of Granite House Lofts, other Black owners introduced their businesses, and some were featured at a walking tour that followed the opening presentations. One owner commented, “It’s especially exciting to see this happening in Stone Mountain, considering its history,” alluding to Stone Mountain’s former association with the Ku Klux Klan.
“There is a business renaissance taking place in downtown Stone Mountain, particularly among Black entrepreneurs, and it’s exhilarating,” according to statement released by the Linders in conjunction with the announcement of the guide. “The fact that over half of the businesses on Main Street are Black- or minority-owned is a testament to a new narrative being written—not just here but across DeKalb—that you can start a business and be successful.”
Decide DeKalb officials said that recent statistics underscore the importance of initiatives such as the Black Business Guide. They cited figures from Brookings Institute that indicate there are 7,539 Black businesses in the metro Atlanta area, accounting for 7 percent of employer businesses.
In addition to launching the guide, Decide DeKalb announced the start of the DeKalb Diversity Decal (D3) program. This initiative, administered by Decide DeKalb’s business retention and expansion team, will provide participating businesses with a decal to indicate Black-owned businesses “with more coming to showcase DeKalb’s business diversity,” according to Decide DeKalb.
“The economic power of the Black dollar is immense and transformative,” said Washington. “When we support and circulate our spending within Black businesses, we create a ripple effect that strengthens our communities, builds generational wealth, and ensures the success of our entrepreneurs. The DeKalb Black Business Guide is a crucial tool in harnessing this power and driving sustainable growth for our local economy.”
