The Westside Working Group (WSWG) works to develop comprehensive strategies and activities to ensure African American business owners and entrepreneurs take full advantage of the opportunities for economic development on the BeltLine’s West Side Trail. Members of the Westside Working Group include Georgia Watch, the Georgia Micro Enterprise Network (GMEN), Invest Atlanta, Atlanta BeltLine Inc. (ABI) and Atlanta BeltLine Partnership (ABLP). AWBI provided a six month grant for the WSWG to stimulate a movement that intentionally aligns and leverages the people power in Southwest Atlanta needed to transform the threat of gentrification into an opportunity for the entire community to thrive.

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PROSPER provides technical assistance to food, beverage and wellness entrepreneurs beginning with a 8-week accelerator program. PROSPER works with idea and early stage entrepreneurs. AWBI provided a six month grant to support PROSPER in the execution of two (2) cohorts in 2020 at Pittsburgh Yards focused on growth and scale: Health Beauty & Wellness and Food & Beverage.

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Goodie Nation’s Intentionally Good Project at Pittsburgh Yards program is a three (3) month program to increase revenue trajectory and growth capital competitiveness for small businesses owned by entrepreneurs in the Pittsburgh Yards area. AWBI provided a one year grant to support Goodie Nation in the creation of an entrepreneurship program for the Pittsburgh Yards area in an effort to help local small businesses increase their business digital literacy and their competitiveness for growth capital.

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Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, Inc. (ACE) is a non-profit organization and CDFI that provides loans and business development resources to help its borrowers create and grow sustainable businesses, which generate jobs. AWBI provided a six month $7,500 grant to support marketing materials and open house event related to ACE’s relocation to the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RCIE).

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Gangstas to Growers is a social enterprise focused on building worker-owned cooperatives that provide opportunities for employment, empowerment, and entrepreneurship in agriculture for at-risk youth and formerly incarcerated individuals. AWBI provided a six month grant to support the development of a worker-owned model and to build the critical infrastructure and knowledge base to support growth and long-term sustainability of Gangstas to Growers.

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The mission of The Guild is to create intentional spaces where changemakers can thrive, collaborate with peers, and build community and to reimagine traditional real estate models. AWBI provided a one year grant to support the 2019 Community Wealth Building Business Accelerator, a business advancement program for existing minority-owned small businesses seeking to open or retain a brick and mortar retail location in the Atlanta area. AWBI will also support The Guild’s Community Wealth Building Accelerator at Pittsburgh Yards, serving 40 black-owned business and featuring commercial real estate purchasing, leasing, and management workshops as well as exposure to new economic models.

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The mission of the Village Market is to support the exposure and sustainability of minority-owned business through strategic partnerships, educational training​s/clinics and quarterly curated marketplace experiences. AWBI provided sponsorship for The Village Market’s Black Friday Festival, which seeks to redirect spending from larger retailers, directly to small businesses, namely, Black- owned businesses in the community, engaging 3,000 shoppers and 130 small businesses.

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