Chamber seeks to promote diversity in local economy

Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Ketha Richardson, left, and BJ Pierce, middle, talk with Malcolm Harris, right, on Wednesday during Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's Diversify event at the Chattanooga Convention Center. Staff photo by Olivia Ross / Ketha Richardson, left, and BJ Pierce, middle, talk with Malcolm Harris, right, on Wednesday during Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's Diversify event at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

By Dave Flessner June 12, 2024 4 min read

Editor’s note: The above photo cutline in this story was updated on June 14 to clarify the identity of those pictured at the Diversify event.

Launching his real estate and construction management business in Atlanta in 1952, H.J. Russell overcame the challenges of the Jim Crow South to develop one of the largest black-owned businesses in America and became a major philanthropist and supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. more than a half century ago.

Within the gutted 50,000-square-foot building that once housed Russell’s corporate headquarters in Atlanta, James “Jay” Bailey said he has defied naysayers in the community during the past four years by rebuilding the structure and building up other Black entrepreneurs in the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs named after the pioneering Atlanta businessman.

Since the first businesses began locating and growing within the Russell Center during the pandemic, Bailey said 512 Black entrepreneurs have started or grown businesses that collectively have created more than 2,800 jobs and generate more than $183 million in annual company revenues.