Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens visited several small businesses in the Sweet Auburn Business District on Wednesday, Dec. 21 as part of Atlanta Main Street Shop Small.
Atlanta Main Street Shop Small encourages the support of Atlanta’s diverse small businesses in the city’s business districts.
Alongside several small businesses, Dickens visited two small businesses in particular, SPARK Innovation Lab and Sweet Auburn Bread Company, and spoke on the importance of supporting small businesses.
“Today is a special day for us to get out of here, get into the community, and be able to show the community you can buy great things by shopping small,” Dickens said. “These small business owners are pillars in our community, they hire locally, and this is where most of our employment comes from.”
The SPARK Innovation Lab is a small business incubator, which provides small business owners who exist in the district, as well as those who intend to establish a business there, with targeted technical assistance, funding, and community support.
Dickens also said although there are big companies and large firms, most people work for small businesses.
“We must support small businesses so they can support their employees who then can support their families and that’s how we create an ecosystem of communities,” he said. “So, today I’m on Sweet Auburn, the legacy and legendary historic Sweet Auburn, and I made sure I came to get some sweet treats and visit a great baker that’s been around for 25 years in Sweet Auburn.”
Since Christmas is four days away, Dickens said although people go to malls and big shopping centers to shop, they don’t want people to forget about “the key corridors in our city”.
“I’m going to go around five different sets of shopping districts that are not the main big retail stores. We are going to small businesses so we can highlight that these folks have great business, great products, and a personalized appeal,” said Dickens.
Also, Dickens said because he owned a small business for 10 years, he wanted to make sure people don’t forget small businesses that’s been here for 25 years or some that’s been there for a few months.
The SPARK Innovation lab is located at 228 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta and the Sweet Auburn Bread Company is located at 250 Auburn Ave. NE, Atlanta.
For more information, visit https://sweetauburnbread.com/ and http://www.sweetauburnworks.com/spark-innovation-lab/.