shelley anthony - business know-how
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photo by steed media service
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Owner, This Is It! BBQ & Seafood
Few local business owners have worked as hard as Shelley Anthony over the past 25 years. As the founder and owner of This Is It! BBQ & Seafood, a family-owned business he started in 1983, Anthony is the genius behind one the state’s most successful restaurant chains.
During the month of February, Anthony partnered with the Atlanta Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce for Black Business Fridays, encouraging members of the community to support their local entrepreneurs and to spotlight their accomplishments. “I call it, ‘Reverse the curse,’ ” says Anthony, who is also a member of the AMBCC. “Last year there [were] like $28 billion dollars spent in Atlanta and only 2 percent of that $28 billion came back into ... black business[es] or back into the community. I think it’s time for us to do something to reverse that.”
For the Chamber, choosing Anthony and This Is It! as the jumping off point was a no-brainer. “[Mr. Anthony] has a great story; it goes back to the true spirit of what he represents as an entrepreneur,” says Michael Hill, president of the AMBCC. “Anybody with a vision or a great idea is capable of being an entrepreneur.”
Anthony hopes African Americans will come to realize the overall importance of supporting each other. “That is something we really need to do, because you never know [if] that dollar you spend might get your son, your daughter, your niece [or] your nephew a job, so it’s very important,” he says.
-gavin philip godfrey
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