ATLANTA — Keita Dawson says growing a business can be a challenge.
“We knew we had an excellent product, but getting in there was difficult,” Dawson said.
She harvests microgreens in central Georgia at Ula Farms. The plants are used in fancy dishes served in fancy hotels like the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
On Friday the Hyatt hosted 50 minority-owned businesses in the same ballroom where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke 56 years ago.
The expo is called Change Starts Here.
“We made it a point to look at how we do business and who we do business with. We started doing it right after the George Floyd incident,” Hyatt General Manager Derrick Morrow said.
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Kevin Mobley runs Anna Bell’s Mac & Cheese out of the Hyatt’s kitchen.
He told Channel 2′s Berndt Petersen that putting dozens of minority vendors in the same place at the same time with the movers and shakers of Atlanta’s hotel and hospitality industry will produce partnerships.
“They are not just simply saying come in and we’ll provide an environment to pass out business cards. They’re here to help people actually make deals,” Mobley said.
Dawson said she was there to network with everyone.
“It’s wonderful that we’re all here. We can lay eyes on each other,” Dawson said.
This is the event’s second year. The Hyatt said it doubled in size this year.
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