Blank donation to help sustain Atlanta Black entrepreneurship center
The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has made a $2 million donation to an Atlanta center to support Black entrepreneurs and help the organization keep its expansion plans on track as it scales its educational efforts.
The donation from Blank, a co-founder of Home Depot, will help the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs support expansion of its facilities to provide programming and services for more Black business founders.
The money is a commitment by one of Atlanta’s “quintessential entrepreneurs,” RICE President and CEO Jay Bailey said, and comes at a key time.
Bailey said some $13 million in grants RICE has been awarded from the federal government have been put on hold as part of broad executive orders from President Donald Trump to pause certain spending.
In his early months in office, Trump has scrutinized spending and initiatives that could fall under the umbrella of diversity, equity and inclusion while also cutting federal departments.
Bailey said the support from the Blank Foundation is “certainly well-timed, in a time of uncertainty for nonprofits. This $2 million allows us to keep our momentum going.”
RICE is expanding its building to help serve more entrepreneurs, and Bailey said the funding will be used in part to keep construction moving as planned.
RICE is housed in the original Westside Atlanta headquarters of H.J. Russell and Co., a pioneering Black-owned construction firm founded in 1952 by the late Herman Russell. The Russell empire also includes airport concessions, property development and hospitality businesses.
Part of the building was completely gutted and reworked to become a place for local Black entrepreneurs to develop and grow their companies. RICE supports 641 companies full time, Bailey said, and some 14 partner organizations in the building touch more than 10,000 entrepreneurs.
The center attracted more than 90,000 visitors in 2024, providing leaders of young companies with mentoring, programming and unique events, including functions with business luminaries such as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and billionaire philanthropist and private equity giant Robert Smith.
“Our entrepreneurs contributed more than $500 million in new economic value to the city of Atlanta last year,” Bailey said. “This is about real entrepreneurs creating real jobs and opportunity, more than 4,000 jobs sustained.”
Blank Foundation President Fay Twersky announced the donation during a fireside chat at RICE, a sign of how important RICE’s mission is to the foundation.
“This investment reflects our chairman’s entrepreneurial journey and his commitment to giving back to Atlanta, a city that has given him so much,” Twersky said in a news release. “RICE’s extraordinary work supporting entrepreneurs creates pathways to economic mobility and opportunity. By investing in entrepreneurs at all stages, we’re fostering collective thriving where individual success strengthens entire communities.”
Blank and the Russell family also have deep ties. H.J. Russell & Co. was part of the team of construction companies that built Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home to the Blank-owned Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United. Blank made commitments to support Westside development as part of the stadium deal with the city.
Atlanta is one of the most economically unequal cities in the U.S. and one of hardest places for people born in the bottom rungs of the economic ladder to rise. Creating wealth through small businesses is one of the best ways to help close those gaps, Bailey said.
“We have a 2,000-person waiting list, so the expansion isn’t aesthetic, it’s so we’re able to support more entrepreneurs,” he said.
Bailey said Atlanta’s corporate and philanthropic community have helped sustain RICE, including support from Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Fiserv and UPS.
About the Author
J. Scott Trubey is the senior editor over business, climate and environment coverage at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He previously served as a business reporter for the AJC covering banking, real estate and economic development. He joined the AJC in 2010.
