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Tag: Invest Atlanta

  • The Atlanta Voice and Publisher Janis Ware Honored as Legacy Business

    The Atlanta Voice publisher Janis Ware (above) during the 2025 Salute to Legacy luncheon. Photo by Laura Nwogu/The Atlanta Voice

    Surrounded by local community members and business leaders on the rooftop of Roosevelt Hall, The Atlanta Voice publisher Janis Ware was honored at the City of Atlanta’s Salute to Legacy luncheon on Tuesday afternoon. The event recognized longstanding local businesses that have helped shape the cultural and economic fabric of Atlanta for the past 30 years. Under the helm of Ware and her dedication to innovation and community impact, The Atlanta Voice has stood the test of time in its mission to be a voice for the people, since it was co-founded by her father, J. Lowell Ware, in 1966. 

    “I’m excited and thrilled to be recognized as a legacy business. It’s not easy to make it 30 years, and it’s even more of an accomplishment to get to 60,” Ware said. 

    The event was the brainchild of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development authority. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who also serves as chair of the Invest Atlanta board, attended the luncheon and recognized the adaptability and resilience of many of Atlanta’s small business owners. Dickens emphasized the importance of celebrating these legacy businesses that have contributed to Atlanta becoming the “city that influences everything.” 

    “Legacy businesses are pillars and economic anchors for the community, and we can’t be a city of opportunity for all if we don’t uplift our legacy businesses. You all provide consistent jobs for our residents…. These businesses have mentored generations of entrepreneurs and reinvested in our local economy, whether it is boom or bust, recession or pandemic, or any other thing — 30 years you have endured,” Dickens said. 

    “Your longevity brings economic stability to our neighborhoods, and this is especially important in times of uncertainty. Your businesses represent the living history of Atlanta, each one of you telling a story of your own and a collective, shared journey that we all have. To stay in business for 30 years or more takes resilience, innovation, and deep connection to the community.” 

    The Atlanta Local Legacy Program comprises over 400 businesses. Those who are a part of the program are included in an online registry that allows interested customers to find and patronize their establishments, and are qualified to apply for improvement grants aimed at sustaining vital businesses within the community. 

    Twenty businesses were inaugural recipients of the local legacy program celebration, including The Atlanta Voice, Busy Bee Cafe, Atlanta Human Performance Center, The Beautiful Restaurant, Georgia Justice Project and Mr. Everything Cafe, to name a few. Each business was awarded the first edition of the Atlanta Legacy Coin, a commemorative gift that Invest Atlanta President Eloisa Klementich said will continue the legacy of telling the stories of important organizations and events in the city.

    “Longevity in business is not just about profit. It’s about purpose. It’s about people. It’s about preservation,” Klementich said. “You [legacy businesses] have helped to build and inspire the foundation we all stand on, and we continue to light the way forward. Here’s to the next 30 years.”

    Laura Nwogu

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  • ‘I want to revitalize downtown’: Former Walgreens is now Azalea Fresh Market

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
    A rendering of the Azalea Fresh Market on Peachtree Street. Rendering provided by City of Atlanta

    There was no red ribbon outside the front door of the Azalea Fresh Market as political dignitaries and business leaders waited for the exact moment to begin the first tour of the store. The market is located at the corner of Peachtree St. and Edgewood Avenue, and directly across the street from Woodruff Park.

    What was once a Walgreens with people sitting and sometimes lying outside is now supposed to be an answer to changing downtown Atlanta’s status as a food desert. The store resembles your average Publix, with clean floors, well-lit sections, fresh fruit and vegetables, and high-end candies, like Tony’s chocolate bars.

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Invest Atlanta President & CEO Dr. Eloisa Klementich, and Savi Provisions President Paul Nair attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

    “I want to revitalize Downtown,” Dickens said as he and others were given a tour of the first floor of the market by Nair, some of his family members, and staff. “This is our vision coming true.”

    According to Nair, Azalea Fresh Market was designed by architects at the Savannah School of Art & Design (SCAD). The second floor, which was not part of the Mayor’s and media’s tour on Thursday morning, will have two restaurants. The second floor will be accessible via escalators and an elevator. The store will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

    Asked about what could be done to prevent any security issues with the market being open till 10 p.m., Dickens said there will be plenty of eyes on the first supermarket in the Five Points area in decades.

    “We are very well aware of the need to maintain safety and security. Businesses thrive when they don’t have the uncertainty of crime,” Dickens said. “We made a commitment to this location, to Savi, and to the residents and businesses of downtown, that we are going to make sure it is safe.”

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    Dickens said there are cameras and security systems in place for added security. The 61st Mayor of Atlanta added that the Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Police, and the Central Atlanta Progress Downtown Ambassadors are all routinely on the scene and will provide an extra layer of security.

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    “I think there’s a lot of eyes on this,” Dickens said. “So, when you have a lot of activity, the more shoppers you have, the more business that is going on, and that provides safety.”

    During the tour at the back of the store, Dickens credited Nair for the prices of the protein powder. Dickens said he uses similar products and pays equal prices for them.

    “We absolutely want to be cheaper than Walmart,” Nair told Dickens.

    The Olympia Building, home of the large Coca-Cola clock on top of the building, in which Azalea Fresh Market is housed, has been a landmark for many years. The nearly 100-year-old building has been home to several businesses, including bank branches, and Tom Pitt’s Soda Fountain in the early 1900s.

    Azalea Fresh Market is not a cheap solution to Downtown Atlanta being a food desert, but it is an answer.

    “Y’all did it,” Dickens said to Nair and company. “We set the vision and y’all made it happen.”

    Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice

    Donnell Suggs

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  • Atlanta Community Food Bank, Mayor Andre Dickens hosts cooking class with seniors

    Atlanta Community Food Bank, Mayor Andre Dickens hosts cooking class with seniors

    The event included discussions on food insecurity affecting Atlanta’s senior community, as well as Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ commitment to supporting and strengthening Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta Voice

    The Atlanta Community Food Bank, one of the nation’s leading food banks fighting hunger, is calling for action within Metro Atlanta for support towards the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP).

    To address this issue, ACFB hosted a “Community Conversation Cooking Class with Mayor Andre Dickens.”

    CSFP provides seniors with healthy foods through free monthly food boxes, as part of the current farm bill. As critical pandemic-era benefits expire, many seniors on fixed incomes are struggling to afford rising food, housing, and medical costs.

    The event included discussions on food insecurity affecting Atlanta’s senior community, as well as Dickens’ commitment to supporting and strengthening CSFP. Seniors were able to share their experiences and hear firsthand about the city’s efforts to address food insecurity.

    “We are always thankful for the diligence and hard work the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s great leadership puts into every community across Georgia that needs food whether that’s in our youth, our families, and today is all about our seniors,” Dickens said. “We’re teaching them how to eat healthy and we’re going to make some meals.”  

    The event, Dickens said, is to make sure seniors can have healthy food options and enjoy life in the city of Atlanta.

    “We want to ensure our seniors have food options whether it’s through the Senior Box the community food bank provides or if you’re in need of the SNAP program or assisted food to be able to take care of them and get the food they need,” he said.

    Beef Lintel Soup with Sweet Potatoe Biscuit and a glass of water. Photo by Isaiah Singleton/The Atlanta Voice

    President & CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank Kyle Waide says food insecurity has increased dramatically over the last two years. He also said the need right now is “tremendous” and has worsened since the damaging effects of Hurricane Helene.

    “Inflation has had such a massive impact across our region and across the country. We’re serving 66% more people today than we did just two years ago, which is being felt by families, children, and low-income seniors,” he said.

    Waide says they are proud to be able to partner with the city and other community organizations to get high-quality nutritionally-dense food boxes to low-income seniors every single month.

     “We’re really proud to be able to support our seniors with great high quality nutrition education resources so they can prepare healthy meals with the food provided,” he said.

    Furthermore, Waide said ACFB looks forward in the coming months and years to continue to work on how they ensure everyone across Atlanta has the food they need and deserve to live a healthy life.

    Also, seniors were given recipes to try at home and tried Beef Lentil Soup with low sodium options, vegetarian options, and Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Biscuits. 

    Seniors from Emmanuel Lutheran Church were among the attendees including Atlanta resident Deborah Clarkson who said she appreciates the Atlanta Community Food Bank for even doing this event for seniors only.

    “Groceries, food, and everything else has gotten entirely too expensive for many people and me at age 65,” she said. “It has become a task to budget on my income for everything, and I’m just so grateful for Mayor Dickens and the Atlanta Community Food Bank for looking out for us old folk, it means a lot.”

    Senior Darrell Simms said he enjoyed the cooking lesson that was provided, and he also appreciates the efforts of all parties involved.

    “Eating healthy has gotten hard for me because I can’t afford most things, as most can’t these days, but I’m on a fixed income so things have been tough,” he said. “I appreciate the mayor and the community food bank so much because this helps out more than people realize.”

    While cooking, Dickens also spoke to everyone about initiatives for senior citizens in Atlanta, including the establishment of a senior center at John A. White Park with amenities like a fitness center, kitchen, dining hall, and event spaces.

    The center will cater to seniors and is expected to take 18 months to construct.

    Additionally, there are plans to build 20,000 units of affordable housing for seniors and a rehabilitation program for senior homeowners to help with necessary repairs.

    Dickens also discussed the annual senior ball and emphasizes public safety, with police officers now allowed to take their cars home to deter crime. The mayor and local police officials expressed commitment to these programs and their impact on the community.

    Dickens also discussed an owner-occupied rehab program, also known as Atlanta Heritage Owner Occupied Rehab Program in partnership with Invest Atlanta. The program is designed to help senior citizens get rehabilitation services for free.

    “Your roof may cost $25,000 – $30,000 to replace it, and a lot of times seniors and a lot of people in general don’t have that kind of cash running around,” he said. “Replace a roof or an air conditioning unit, or if you bought a house when you were 35 or 45 and now, you’re 67 years old, so you need handlebars in the bathroom and in the shower.”

    Before the event ended, Dickens reminded everyone to register to vote if they haven’t already since the deadline is Monday, Oct. 7. Additionally, there is a voter registration event taking place on Saturday, Oct 5.

    For more information on how to get involved with the ACFB, visit https://www.acfb.org/volunteer/.

    Isaiah Singleton

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