LOCATION PREFERENCES OF SUCCESSFUL AFRICAN AMERICAN-OWNED BUSINESSES IN ATLANTA

This essay is motivated by Michael Porter's research on the ''Competit ive Advantage of the Inner City.'' The authors have assembled data on 722 of the most successful African American-owned businesses in the th ree county Atlanta MSA. Data includes information on the financial and employment characteristics of firms and the characteristics of their owners. This information is supplemented by a survey of 233 successful African American entrepreneurs. The objective is to determine where s uccessful African American-owned businesses are located in Atlanta, th e reasons behind their location decisions, and the employment and fina ncial characteristics of businesses at specific locations. Zip codes w ithin the three county Atlanta MSA are classified by median family inc ome and racial characteristics. Businesses are mapped into these class ifications. Contrary to the popular belief that successful African Ame rican-owned firms have abandoned black communities, the overwhelming m ajority in Atlanta are still located in predominantly black neighborho ods. In fact, the most successful businesses are established in some o f the poorest neighborhoods, while one-fourth are located in neighborh oods where the median family income is $25,000 or less. On average, 21 percent of the employees in these businesses live in inner-city neigh borhoods, and 77 percent of all employees are African Americans. Given the substantial employment capacity of these firms, along with their location preferences, the authors conclude that a key element of the s trategy to revitalize inner cities must center on the promotion of Afr ican American-owned businesses.