All of 2025 we’ll be celebrating the Atlanta Black Chambers for its 20th anniversary. This marks two decades of empowering Black entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth from Atlanta to across the globe. Under the visionary leadership of President & CEO Melvin M. Coleman, the ABC has become a leading force in the business community and was recently recognized as National Chamber of the Year by the U.S. Black Chambers. Coleman is evident on the chamber’s current agenda to continue economic growth and empowerment for the Black businesses the ABC serves.
More than ever, it’s clear to me what the role of the chamber is. The focus for our organization is building and supporting Black ownership. Black-owned organizations of businesses. We’ve talked about it before, but now it’s really going to be a way of life. And that same thing applies to our global initiative, which has also taken us to yet another level. A really big thing that sets us apart from other organizations is we have a focus on Black businesses all over the world.
Issac Hayes lll has Fanbase right? That’s a social media platform we need to get behind. We don’t have a lot of ownership in the world of digital platforms like that, but we have great participation. I’m like, there’s no such thing as Black Twitter because Black people don’t own Twitter. The chamber is behind AcknowledgeMINT Magazine. You need to be advertising in AcknowledgeMINT because it’s Black-owned. Black media is important.
We’re going to build Black brands. Atlanta is going to set the example, set the standard, and then all across the country it’s going to be about build Black community by building and supporting Black brands. We’re going to retain more of all this wealth that we generate and it’s going to have a real impact on the wealth in our community. We’ve got two Black banks in Atlanta, and a lot of people don’t even know who they are. The chamber has a platform where we can promote, we can showcase, we can inform, and educate our community. We’re going to have campaigns and different initiatives where you open an account at the Black bank, and there will be some type of incentive.
So this is what we’re doing as we go into a bold new year, a bold new future, and the ABC is going to lead the way. We’re going to lead the way and set an example for the whole world.
– Melvin M. Coleman
