( ENSPIRE Business ) Atlanta Black Expo Features Kids Business Expo
The Atlanta Black Expo (ABE) returned to the Georgia World Congress Center for its 4th Annual Event in 2026. The Georgia World Congress Center hosted the event for the first time in 2025, following its two-year tenure at the Cobb Galleria. ABE dates started on February 20 to 22. Its footprint has doubled to 196,000 square feet to accommodate over 300 businesses and an expected 5,000+ attendees. It has evolved into the Southeast’s largest non-industry-specific showcase for Black-owned businesses. Atlanta Black Expo is an economic engine that partnered with Urban League of Greater Atlanta, the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), and the Atlanta Black Chambers. The ABE event tackles “The State of Black Business” through high-level policy panels. The event will honor Pastor Jamal Bryant with the ABE Trailblazer Award.
On Sunday, February 22, a featured Kids Business Expo highlighted young entrepreneurs in the city. In addition, there was a Black Foodie Friday competition featuring local Black-owned food and beverage businesses competing for the 2026 ATL Best of Award. Next, ABE included an HBCU-themed “Back on the Yard” celebration and after-party, honoring the local HBCU and D9 communities with a night of old-school and classic hits and a competitive game night. Furthermore, Atlanta Black Expo featured a Speed Networking session, a Health Fair, and a Black Art Expo, a gallery celebrating the depth of Black art and culture. Corey “NetworKing” Moore, founder of Atlanta Black Expo, relaunched the ABE concept in 2023. He is the CEO and President of ProNetworker, a company he founded 16 years ago to empower entrepreneurs and sales professionals through networking and more.
To what do you attribute the continued growth and impact of the Atlanta Black Expo that allows it to return to a premier venue like the Georgia World Congress Center?
Our growth is very grassroots and community-based. Over the last 4 years, we’ve been working hard to include more and more of the Black community in what we’re doing. We created a very inclusive economic platform for Black-owned businesses, and we engage other organizations and communities within the diaspora.
Returning to the GWCC and nearly doubling our footprint to 196,000 square feet this year isn’t just about space—it’s about scale. We’ve moved beyond being a “small business fair” to becoming a monumental economic engine. When you bring 300+ Black-owned businesses under the roof of the 4th largest convention center in the nation, you are formally establishing the undisputed epicenter for Black business, which we lovingly call the “Superbowl of Black-owned businesses.”
Could you tell me why it was a priority this year to integrate the Kids Business Expo, and what message it sends to have young entrepreneurs sharing the stage with industry veterans?
We are in the business of generational wealth, and that starts with the mindset of our youth. Integrating the Kids Business Expo was a priority because we want to show our children that entrepreneurship is a viable career path, not just a “side hustle” they discover as adults. Having them share the floor with veterans sends a powerful message: their ideas have immediate market value. It levels the playing field and ensures that the “circulation of the Black dollar” becomes a habit for the next generation before they even graduate high school.
How do you hope this experience shapes the mindset of young attendees, and what should future visitors expect from this new focus on youth entrepreneurship?
My greatest hope is that our young attendees leave with the profound realization that they do not need anyone’s permission to lead. For too long, the narrative has been that you have to reach a certain age or obtain a specific degree before you are “ready” to innovate. By placing the Kids Business Expo at the heart of our event, we make the “impossible” tangible.
When a child sees a peer their own age pitching a product, managing a booth, and processing real transactions, the mental barriers of “I can’t” or “not yet” are permanently dismantled.
Moving forward, visitors should expect this youth focus to evolve into a full-scale leadership laboratory. We are not just giving kids a table to sell products; we are building a curriculum within the Expo itself. In the coming years, we plan to aggressively expand our workshops to include early-stage financial literacy, AI-integrated business models, and supply chain basics.
We are intentional about ensuring the Atlanta Black Expo remains a high-octane launchpad where the CEOs of tomorrow gain the confidence, the connections, and the capital to start their journey today. We aren’t just teaching them how to run a business—we’re teaching them how to own the future.
How do your strategic partnerships with RICE, the Atlanta Black Chambers, and the Urban League help transform the Expo into a powerhouse for high-level economic policy?
By partnering with the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs (RICE), the Atlanta Black Chambers, and the Urban League, we move the Expo from a simple marketplace into a high-level policy room. These organizations represent the pillars of our economic infrastructure. Together, we curate “The State of Black Business” panels, where we move beyond surface-level networking to tackle the “big three” of economic mobility: franchising, procurement, and capital access.
These partnerships allow us to align our collective resources with a spirit of radical cooperation. We aren’t just exhibiting products; we are advocating for the structural changes and legislative environments necessary for Black businesses to move from surviving to thriving.
By blending the Black Art Expo and the HBCU celebration, how does this cultural immersion create a more authentic networking environment for business professionals?
Authentic networking happens when people connect through their identity, not just their LinkedIn profiles. By integrating the Black Art Expo and our new HBCU Tailgate Afterparty, we create an environment where the culture actually breathes. When you’re discussing a powerful piece of art or celebrating a shared collegiate legacy, the “business mask” comes off. This creates a foundation of trust that makes any subsequent business deal much more meaningful and sustainable.
While the Black Art Expo has been a staple of our past events, the HBCU Tailgate Afterparty was a vital new addition this year. Our goal was to dedicate a high-energy space specifically for HBCU alumni and members of the Divine 9.
It’s a well-known fact that Atlanta has the highest concentration of HBCUs in the country, and the city often operates like one giant HBCU campus. Between our local institutions and the thousands of graduates from across the nation who now call Atlanta home, this celebration was essential. By blending the professional with the personal, we aren’t just networking—we’re coming home. That sense of belonging is the strongest foundation for any business relationship.
As the ‘undisputed epicenter’ for Black enterprise, how does the 2023 relaunch of ABE serve as the ultimate realization of your 16-year mission with ProNetworker?
For nearly 20 years, ProNetworker has been dedicated to a singular solution: improving professional growth through high-level networking. We’ve curated spaces for women and Black professionals, and even carved out a niche for the culinary industry with TasteUrban. However, after over a decade of building these individual bridges, I realized Atlanta was missing a singular, massive “home” that encompassed the entire spectrum of Black-owned businesses.
The 2023 relaunch of the Atlanta Black Expo (ABE) wasn’t just a new event—it was a reclamation of history. Many people don’t realize that 131 years ago, right here in this city, the 1895 Cotton States and International Exposition featured a dedicated Negro Building to showcase Black enterprise. That was the original Atlanta Black Expo.
We view our relaunch as a direct continuation of that 1895 legacy. This is the ultimate realization of my mission because it scales the ProNetworker philosophy to its highest potential. We aren’t just “handing out business cards”; we are blending business and culture to create a modern-day world’s fair. By bringing everyone together under one roof, we are fulfilling a 16-year journey of turning professional networking into a movement for community-wide economic power.
Moore has produced other high-profile Atlanta gatherings such as TasteUrban Atlanta and Women Who Network. Atlanta Black Expo empowers and connects individuals and businesses to expand their networks. Featuring a range of activities, panels, workshops, and networking events, the expo aims to foster diversity and drive positive change and inclusion. Atlanta Black Expo creates opportunities for success within the Black community and entrepreneurship. For more information, to apply as an exhibitor, or to purchase tickets, please visit www.ATLBlackExpo.com.
Related Articles: T. Rose Foundation Hosts the 5th Annual Girlepreneur Expo For August 12th, Wealth Summit Live: Redefining Wealth & Fostering Community
