by Sharelle B. McNair
January 12, 2026
RICE has turn out to be a staple within the ATL because the hub for the expansion of Black companies, with enterprise homeowners touring from throughout for a seat on the desk.
The Russell Innovation Heart for Entrepreneurs (RICE) in Atlanta is looking for all entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 corporations to take part within the February 2026 installment of its First Fridays Workshop Collection, designed to construct sturdy connections between small enterprise homeowners and firms, in response to a press launch shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE.
The favored program, which resulted in an amazing response to the December 2025 session, returns Feb. 6 and is understood for its full day of networking and academic classes with a value-driven strategy. With previous partnerships together with Financial institution OZK, Fiserv, Atlanta Life Insurance coverage Firm, and Arthur M. Clean Sports activities and Leisure (AMBSE), the collection creates connections between RICE’s sturdy, rising entrepreneurial community and company companions.
As well as, this system is acknowledged because the driving power behind strategic experience whereas making a sustainable studying setting, spanning subjects from monetary acumen to enterprise practices.
RICE has turn out to be a staple within the ATL because the hub for Black enterprise development, with enterprise homeowners touring from throughout for a seat on the desk. And it appears the middle’s development is unstoppable. In June 2025, the middle opened the Wells Fargo Studying Lab after receiving a $1.5 million grant, in response to the Atlanta Voice.
The state-of-the-art middle hosted an unveiling attended by Georgia U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, Fulton County Fee Chairman Robb Pitt, and Michael Russell of the Russell Firms. Williams recommended the growth, highlighting the necessity for it as Black companies proceed to develop. “Small companies are the spine of our communities—creating jobs, constructing generational wealth, and driving alternative the place it’s wanted most. When Black companies succeed, all companies succeed, and our communities thrive,” the lawmaker mentioned.
“I commend Wells Fargo for investing in that imaginative and prescient, and the Russell Innovation Heart for Entrepreneurs for persevering with to be the mannequin for a way we uplift and scale Black entrepreneurship.”
The middle is an instance of company assist of small enterprise, as RICE President & CEO Jay Bailey celebrated the monetary establishment being the primary to donate earlier than its headquarters was even accomplished. “This collaboration with Wells Fargo strikes past philanthropy—it’s a strategic funding within the individuals constructing Atlanta’s future,” he mentioned.
“The Studying Lab is the place concepts flip into enterprises, and potential turns into progress. That is Atlanta constructing its future from the bottom up, and RICE is proud to be the muse.”
As registration is open for the First Friday collection, members can count on entry to open-minded experience alongside the chance to increase their community with elevated visibility.
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