Atlanta built a mecca for Black businesses, but inequality persists
Atlanta has a seeming abundance of Black millionaires and businesses, but researchers say it is a city that’s deeply unequal.
Atlanta's reputation for being a mecca for Black businesses goes back more than 100 years, starting with Alonzo Herndon, Atlanta’s first Black millionaire, and the bustling businesses along Auburn Avenue. Today, the region has the highest rate of Black-owned businesses with employees in the country, however Black-owned small busineses in Atlanta earn just 17 cents to every dollar earned by other small businesses in the city. (Illustration: Philip Robibero/AJC)
In Atlanta, there is a spirit of possibility that imbues the air, born from what entrepreneurs and experts all seem to agree on: The city is a mecca for Black business.
They cite the hard facts, like the region having the highest rate of Black-owned firms with employees in the country. They point to the seeming abundance of Black millionaires in the city and Black-owned storefronts across every neighborhood.
SomeBrookings Institutionexperts even say the Black business activity in the region could be contributing to the life expectancy of Black people here being higher than models predict.
In Atlanta, there is a spirit of possibility that imbues the air, born from what entrepreneurs and experts all seem to agree on: The city is a mecca for Black business.
They cite the hard facts, like the region having the highest rate of Black-owned firms with employees in the country. They point to the seeming abundance of Black millionaires in the city and Black-owned storefronts across every neighborhood.
SomeBrookings Institutionexperts even say the Black business activity in the region could be contributing to the life expectancy of Black people here being higher than models predict.
Atlanta also has the highest income inequality of any major city in the U.S.,according to research and policy nonprofit Kindred Futures. For Black-owned small businesses in the city, they earn just 17 cents to every dollar of all other small businesses. The share of Black businesses with employees in the region is far below the share of the Black population, and entrepreneurs often say there isa lack of access to capital.
Atlanta also has the highest income inequality of any major city in the U.S.,according to research and policy nonprofit Kindred Futures. For Black-owned small businesses in the city, they earn just 17 cents to every dollar of all other small businesses. The share of Black businesses with employees in the region is far below the share of the Black population, and entrepreneurs often say there isa lack of access to capital.
So, what makes the city a mecca — and, crucially, how can it better live up to that claim?
How the mecca was built
Haz Musa, founder of Royal Teeth Lab, shows off his custom-made grills in his showroom within Ndstry studios in Atlanta on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC)
Haz Musa is a quintessential Atlanta entrepreneur. Musa, born and raised here, was only 14 when he started working alongside his aunt making grills at her jewelry shop, Lucky’s Gold, in the flea market on Metropolitan Parkway.
“I was doing 20 to 50 same-day grills, just me and my aunt,” said Musa, 30. “She would do the waxing, I would do the polishing.”
Eventually the shop moved to the Greenbriar flea market. When he was 18, he started taking dental technology classes at Atlanta Technical College, and by the time he was about 20, he took over when his aunt wanted to retire.
Haz Musa is a quintessential Atlanta entrepreneur. Musa, born and raised here, was only 14 when he started working alongside his aunt making grills at her jewelry shop, Lucky’s Gold, in the flea market on Metropolitan Parkway.
“I was doing 20 to 50 same-day grills, just me and my aunt,” said Musa, 30. “She would do the waxing, I would do the polishing.”
Eventually the shop moved to the Greenbriar flea market. When he was 18, he started taking dental technology classes at Atlanta Technical College, and by the time he was about 20, he took over when his aunt wanted to retire.
Jabril Trawick, known as Brill Lightyear and owner of Ndstry ATL creative studio, shows off his grills made by his cousin, Haz Musa, in Atlanta on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (Olivia Bowdoin for the AJC)
He renamed the business Royal Teeth Lab, growing it beyond the bounds of the flea market, adding two other locations, one off the Beltline and the other inside Ndstry ATL, his cousin’s creative studio.
Celebs like Erykah Badu are clients. Musa made her a set of grills she showcased on the red carpet of the Met Gala in 2023, a unique mix of ebony and ivory cameos on her top row of teeth and freshwater pearls on the bottom.
He renamed the business Royal Teeth Lab, growing it beyond the bounds of the flea market, adding two other locations, one off the Beltline and the other inside Ndstry ATL, his cousin’s creative studio.
Celebs like Erykah Badu are clients. Musa made her a set of grills she showcased on the red carpet of the Met Gala in 2023, a unique mix of ebony and ivory cameos on her top row of teeth and freshwater pearls on the bottom.
For Musa, Atlanta is undoubtedly a Black business mecca.
“As far as the culture, the commerce, the power, you know, of us feeding each other,” he said, “it’s No. 1 for entrepreneurship to me.”
Herndon was born into slavery about 45 miles east of Atlanta. After emancipation, he eventually made his way to the city, where he built a fortune through barbershops and the Atlanta Life Insurance Co., which sat proudly on Auburn Avenue for decades.
“As far as the culture, the commerce, the power, you know, of us feeding each other,” he said, “it’s No. 1 for entrepreneurship to me.”
Herndon was born into slavery about 45 miles east of Atlanta. After emancipation, he eventually made his way to the city, where he built a fortune through barbershops and the Atlanta Life Insurance Co., which sat proudly on Auburn Avenue for decades.
But Herndon wasn’t alone. Auburn Avenue was a bustling Black business corridor, Atlanta’s own “Black Wall Street.”
Then came Herman J. Russell.
A lifelong Atlantan, Russell built a small plastering firm into one of the most successful Black-owned real estate development and construction businesses of the 20th century. Many Russell proteges created their own successful companies, like Egbert Perry, founder and chairman of the Integral Group, and T. Dallas Smith, founder of his own eponymous commercial real estate firm.
Business is one side of the coin. The other came in politics and the rise of Maynard Jackson.
As first Black mayor of Atlanta, Jackson mandated minimum percentages of city and airport contracts that had to go to minority firms, which inspired other cities and even the federal government to create similar programs. He also advocated for the hiring and promotion of Black people in private companies.
The mandates he put in place set a foundation for minority businesses that lingers to this day.
But Herndon wasn’t alone. Auburn Avenue was a bustling Black business corridor, Atlanta’s own “Black Wall Street.”
Then came Herman J. Russell.
A lifelong Atlantan, Russell built a small plastering firm into one of the most successful Black-owned real estate development and construction businesses of the 20th century. Many Russell proteges created their own successful companies, like Egbert Perry, founder and chairman of the Integral Group, and T. Dallas Smith, founder of his own eponymous commercial real estate firm.
Business is one side of the coin. The other came in politics and the rise of Maynard Jackson.
As first Black mayor of Atlanta, Jackson mandated minimum percentages of city and airport contracts that had to go to minority firms, which inspired other cities and even the federal government to create similar programs. He also advocated for the hiring and promotion of Black people in private companies.
The mandates he put in place set a foundation for minority businesses that lingers to this day.
The city’s reputation helped convince Lamar Tyler and his wife, Ronnie, to move their family and business to metro Atlanta in 2010 from the Washington, D.C., area. They had started a blog a few years prior that began taking off, and the Tylers were at a crossroads.
“I either had to stay at my job or go full-fledged into the business,” Lamar Tyler said. Atlanta is a hub for digital media, so they moved.
As the Tylers’ blog continued to grow, so did their stature. In 2015 they started a company, Traffic Sales and Profit, focused on using what they’d learned to help other entrepreneurs. Tyler said TSP wouldn’t have had the same success if he had launched it in another city.
The city’s reputation helped convince Lamar Tyler and his wife, Ronnie, to move their family and business to metro Atlanta in 2010 from the Washington, D.C., area. They had started a blog a few years prior that began taking off, and the Tylers were at a crossroads.
“I either had to stay at my job or go full-fledged into the business,” Lamar Tyler said. Atlanta is a hub for digital media, so they moved.
As the Tylers’ blog continued to grow, so did their stature. In 2015 they started a company, Traffic Sales and Profit, focused on using what they’d learned to help other entrepreneurs. Tyler said TSP wouldn’t have had the same success if he had launched it in another city.
Lamar Tyler (left) — pictured speaking to Issa Rae at Traffic Sales and Profit's conference in 2023 — co-founded TSP in Atlanta in 2015 to help other entrepreneurs. (Jenni Girtman for the AJC 2023)
The marquee TSP event is its annual Atlanta conference.
“I think when people come in, they see hope, and they say, ‘Hey, you know what? I see a community here. I see a lot of African American people in the city that make a lot of money. … I see success,’” he said.
The marquee TSP event is its annual Atlanta conference.
“I think when people come in, they see hope, and they say, ‘Hey, you know what? I see a community here. I see a lot of African American people in the city that make a lot of money. … I see success,’” he said.
Still not at parity
There’s no exact figure of how many total Black-owned businesses there are in Atlanta, because data is collected differently for the two types of businesses: sole proprietorships, or businesses with no employees, and employer firms, which have employees. About 97% of Black businesses in the region are sole proprietorships, according to Kindred Futures, but there is no firm number on those businesses.
But census data can pinpoint how many Black-owned employer firms there are in metro Atlanta: 13,766. The region has the top rate of Black-owned employer firms of any U.S. metro, according to data firm LendingTree.
Despite that ranking, metro Atlanta still falls short of parity. About 37% of metro Atlanta is Black, but only 11% of employer firms are Black-owned, a recent study from the Brookings Institution found. If the number of Black businesses grew to match its share of the population, Brookings found there would be nearly 50,000 more Black-owned employer firms, and create more than 326,000 new jobs.
There’s no exact figure of how many total Black-owned businesses there are in Atlanta, because data is collected differently for the two types of businesses: sole proprietorships, or businesses with no employees, and employer firms, which have employees. About 97% of Black businesses in the region are sole proprietorships, according to Kindred Futures, but there is no firm number on those businesses.
But census data can pinpoint how many Black-owned employer firms there are in metro Atlanta: 13,766. The region has the top rate of Black-owned employer firms of any U.S. metro, according to data firm LendingTree.
Despite that ranking, metro Atlanta still falls short of parity. About 37% of metro Atlanta is Black, but only 11% of employer firms are Black-owned, a recent study from the Brookings Institution found. If the number of Black businesses grew to match its share of the population, Brookings found there would be nearly 50,000 more Black-owned employer firms, and create more than 326,000 new jobs.
“If you’re talking about increasing employer firms, you’re also talking about increasing jobs, increasing innovation, increasing revenue for the state,” said Andre Perry, a senior fellow at Brookings.
Scaling Black-owned companies is Jay Bailey’s life’s work. Bailey is president and CEO of the H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs nonprofit, and an entrepreneur himself.
Growing up in Decatur, Bailey was surrounded by business owners who inspired him to start making money for himself. At 12, he started installing car stereo equipment and went on to launch a string of businesses. Now at the innovation center, he helps fill a gap for Black entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
Scaling Black-owned companies is Jay Bailey’s life’s work. Bailey is president and CEO of the H.J. Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs nonprofit, and an entrepreneur himself.
Growing up in Decatur, Bailey was surrounded by business owners who inspired him to start making money for himself. At 12, he started installing car stereo equipment and went on to launch a string of businesses. Now at the innovation center, he helps fill a gap for Black entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
“We have the energy, we’ve got the spirit,” Bailey said. “We don’t have the scale.”
Jay Bailey — pictured speaking to Black entrepreneurs in Atlanta in 2023 — is president & CEO of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs. The Decatur native created the center in Atlanta to help Black entrepreneurs, however he said the city could do a better job at investing in its own businesses. (Miguel Martinez/AJC 2023)
He said the Atlanta community could be doing better at funding and investing in its own businesses, pointing out that the city’s reputation of having a hustle culture “comes out of, oftentimes, lack of resource or a scarcity of resource.”
“How do we start to weaponize and galvanize all the economic strength that we have in the city to promote innovation, to promote forward movement, and taking that one business of two employees and making it five?” Bailey said.
He said the Atlanta community could be doing better at funding and investing in its own businesses, pointing out that the city’s reputation of having a hustle culture “comes out of, oftentimes, lack of resource or a scarcity of resource.”
“How do we start to weaponize and galvanize all the economic strength that we have in the city to promote innovation, to promote forward movement, and taking that one business of two employees and making it five?” Bailey said.
A better Black mecca
In fact, the city is one of the most represented cities on ForbesBLK’s list of the 50 most impactful, powerful and wealthiest Black Americans. The rankings included Atlanta entertainment powerhouses like Tyler Perry, as well as business owners like Tope Awotona, the founder of scheduling software Calendly. Awotona is worth an estimated $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.
But researchers say those individual successes can’t on their own overcome centuries of systematic economic subjugation and exclusion of Black Americans, particularly in the South, according to a recent report by Kindred Futures.
For children who grow up in Atlanta’s English Avenue neighborhood, just 3 miles southwest of Calendly’s Midtown headquarters, their average household income by the time they reach 35 years old is about $15,000, according to the Opportunity Atlas, a census dataset.
In fact, the city is one of the most represented cities on ForbesBLK’s list of the 50 most impactful, powerful and wealthiest Black Americans. The rankings included Atlanta entertainment powerhouses like Tyler Perry, as well as business owners like Tope Awotona, the founder of scheduling software Calendly. Awotona is worth an estimated $1.4 billion, according to Forbes.
But researchers say those individual successes can’t on their own overcome centuries of systematic economic subjugation and exclusion of Black Americans, particularly in the South, according to a recent report by Kindred Futures.
For children who grow up in Atlanta’s English Avenue neighborhood, just 3 miles southwest of Calendly’s Midtown headquarters, their average household income by the time they reach 35 years old is about $15,000, according to the Opportunity Atlas, a census dataset.
A shuttered school is pictured in the English Avenue neighborhood of Atlanta. The community is so poor that the average household income is $15,000 for children who grow up there and reach 35 years old. (Arvin Temkar/AJC 2024)
Across the city, children born into poverty in Atlanta have only a 4% chance of getting out of it in their lifetime, Kindred Futures has found.
For Alex Camardelle, the group’s vice president of policy and research, Atlanta can be considered a Black business mecca only if its definition is “about attracting potential business owners or founders.”
“But I think we conflate being a Black mecca with being a thriving Black business ecosystem. And that, I can say for a fact, we don’t have,” Camardelle said. He points to disparities in revenue, the Black population in the city declining and issues with commercial affordability.
For Alex Camardelle, the group’s vice president of policy and research, Atlanta can be considered a Black business mecca only if its definition is “about attracting potential business owners or founders.”
“But I think we conflate being a Black mecca with being a thriving Black business ecosystem. And that, I can say for a fact, we don’t have,” Camardelle said. He points to disparities in revenue, the Black population in the city declining and issues with commercial affordability.
Camardelle said it would take an array of policy efforts to make Atlanta the mecca it claims to be, including using city procurement contracts for economic inclusion, as well as creating regulations to protect renters and homeowners, which could allow them to keep more of their income and wealth to invest in a business.
But many of the private and public efforts that aimed to even the playing field for Black and minority entrepreneurs, typically under the umbrella of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, are now targets of the Trump administration. This puts the progress Black businesses in Atlanta have made into question.
But Perry from Brookings said DEI and affirmative action were never the goal.
“It was always to have mainstream access to opportunities in capital markets and higher educational institutions like everyone else,” he said, likening those initiatives to watering a plant.
“Black businesses, by and large, are the underappreciated assets in Atlanta, in Georgia, that we could see significant growth just by adding water,” he said.
But where politicians might be faltering, there is a constellation of institutions that provide resources for minority entrepreneurs.
But where politicians might be faltering, there is a constellation of institutions that provide resources for minority entrepreneurs.
The Center for Black Entrepreneurship — whose executive director, Grant Warner, is pictured speaking at Spelman College in 2023 — is one of several organizations at Atlanta's higher education institutions that provide resources to minority entrepreneurs. (Bita Honarvar for the AJC 2023)
There are the university centers, like the Center for Black Entrepreneurship at Spelman College and Morehouse College; the Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center; Clark Atlanta University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development; and the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center at Georgia State University.
Then there’s the city-run Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, as well as private efforts like the Village Marketplace, and nonprofits like the Urban League of Greater Atlanta and the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs.
But entrepreneurs pointed to a lack of access to capital as a lingering obstacle.
“You would think that in this mecca of Black businesses, there would also be a mecca of Black financial resources … and it’s just not there,” said Dana Roberts, co-founder of tween period care company Scarlet by RedDrop.
Last year, Roberts and co-founder Monica Williams applied to every pitch competition they came across because they had not been able to raise money from traditional investors despite having sold $7 million worth of products.
There are the university centers, like the Center for Black Entrepreneurship at Spelman College and Morehouse College; the Morehouse Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center; Clark Atlanta University’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurial Development; and the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center at Georgia State University.
Then there’s the city-run Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, as well as private efforts like the Village Marketplace, and nonprofits like the Urban League of Greater Atlanta and the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs.
But entrepreneurs pointed to a lack of access to capital as a lingering obstacle.
“You would think that in this mecca of Black businesses, there would also be a mecca of Black financial resources … and it’s just not there,” said Dana Roberts, co-founder of tween period care company Scarlet by RedDrop.
Last year, Roberts and co-founder Monica Williams applied to every pitch competition they came across because they had not been able to raise money from traditional investors despite having sold $7 million worth of products.
Monica Williams (left) and Dana Roberts are co-founders of tween period care company Scarlet by RedDrop. Despite having sold $7 million worth of products, the co-founders had trouble finding investors. Now, the company's products are in more than 350 Ulta stores. (Courtesy of DeMorris Marable/MorrisDe Photography)
Their application spree paid off. RedDrop won $1 million late last year in the Pharrell Williams-backed Black Ambition competition in New York. Their products are now in more than 350 Ulta stores.
Though Atlanta has provided community and support from other entrepreneurs, it hasn’t provided funding.
“It would be really, really great if, on top of the comradery, on top of the networking effect that happens,” Williams said, “there were also … some tools that took you from where we were and showed you exactly how to get incremental funding. And then, ‘How do you take that funding and really level up your business?’”
Their application spree paid off. RedDrop won $1 million late last year in the Pharrell Williams-backed Black Ambition competition in New York. Their products are now in more than 350 Ulta stores.
Though Atlanta has provided community and support from other entrepreneurs, it hasn’t provided funding.
“It would be really, really great if, on top of the comradery, on top of the networking effect that happens,” Williams said, “there were also … some tools that took you from where we were and showed you exactly how to get incremental funding. And then, ‘How do you take that funding and really level up your business?’”
ABOUT THIS SERIES
“Atlanta: America’s Black Mecca?” is an original content series from UATL that explores that question with data-driven, thoughtful reporting that prioritizes the voices of locals and transplants who call this city home. These stories will appear in the paper, UATL.com and AJC.com each month through January. Got a Black mecca story to tell? We want to hear about your experiences. Hit us up at uatl@ajc.com.
“Atlanta: America’s Black Mecca?” is an original content series from UATL that explores that question with data-driven, thoughtful reporting that prioritizes the voices of locals and transplants who call this city home. These stories will appear in the paper, UATL.com and AJC.com each month through January. Got a Black mecca story to tell? We want to hear about your experiences. Hit us up at uatl@ajc.com.
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
