How Atlanta Small Businesses Can Leverage the World Cup’s Global Spotlight

Discussions about the FIFA World Cup often center around the headline numbers — hundreds of thousands of visitors equaling hundreds of millions in spending on hotels, restaurants and plane tickets.

But how can Atlanta be sure that this “once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon” trickles down to the small businesses that give the city the very vibrancy that makes it an attractive destination for such events?

That was the focus of a Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce “cafecito” meeting of mostly members in late January at the newly expanded National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Lamar Stewart, interim head of Showcase Atlanta, a city-led initiative designed to ensure maximum local impact of major events, said the focus is on making sure the tournament doesn’t “happen to us” but “with us.”

The key, he said, is to ensure small-business readiness, which will require some companies to up their game. It’s one thing to have resources, but it’s another to have readiness — Atlanta companies need a healthy dose of both, Mr. Stewart said.

‘We all have to become professors in this,” he said, pointing out the need for shrewd strategy between June 15 — the opening Atlanta match between Spain and Cabo Verde — and what he called the “supernova,” the semifinal that decides who plays for the cup championship.

That especially pertains to welcoming the estimated 300,000-500,000 visitors. If you’re a restaurant or retailer operating only on Cash App, he suggested, it might make sense to upgrade to a point-of-sale terminal that can handle higher volumes to ensure smooth service.

If you’re looking to target a certain community, multilingual support or special menu items might be appropriate. Timing and cultural awareness could also be everything, as the teams will bring fans with varying consumer profiles to the city. Assess Your Event Readiness with Showcase Atlanta

With three Muslim-majority countries — Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan — slated to be in Atlanta, those match days are “probably not the right time” to introduce that new pork chop dish or play up your cocktail specials, he said.

Mr. Stewart also noted that the first three matches are noon games, which will affect traffic flows and while also providing some gaps to be filled in visitors’ itineraries.

The city is looking at a particularly opportunistic window between the June 18 match featuring South Africa (and a yet undetermined opponent) and Spain/Saudi Arabia on June 21, which bookend a long weekend thanks to the Juneteenth holiday that lands on Friday, June 19. See the schedule of Atlanta matches

The question becomes how to get visitors to stay over that weekend and experience the authentic Atlanta that lies beyond the FIFA Fan Zone at Centennial Olympic Park.

Either way, a city with accustomed to hosting major sporting events will be held accountable for the opportunities it creates for local residents.

“That’s an economy that descended on your town,” he said — what the city does with that remains to be seen. Test your readiness Join the directory of local businesses that Showcase will provide to World Cup organizers

Laurie Prickett, the British-born senior vice president for economic development at Invest Atlanta, said readiness and capital are the two ingredients needed to capitalize on mega events.

Her agency is providing both, from $250,000 in Small Business Improvement Grants to another half-million dollars from the Eastside and Westside tax allocation districts to provide micro grants of between $5,000 and $50,000 to City of Atlanta businesses to hope activate vacant or underutilized commercial spaces during the World Cup.

Ms. Prickett, who said it “hurts my soul” to say “soccer,” expressed relief in being at a Hispanic event where she didn’t have to play up “futbol’s benefits.

“It’s nice to be in a room where I don’t have to explain the importance of the World Cup.”

She noted that the event will only be a success if it uplifts the city’s new and legacy businesses.

“We need them to thrive because that is the foundation of everything we have in Atlanta,” she added.

‘Real Atlanta’ Along the Beltline

Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs also addressed the audience, noting that the walkable 26-mile loop of old railroad right of way is prioritizing security even as it looks at ways to foster even more commercial dynamism.

Already, the Beltline has seen 12-to-1 return on investment of public funds, he said, with $800 million helping drive more than $10 billion in private investment, much of it along the vibrant Eastside Trail, Mr. Higgs said.

Still, it has been criticized for gentrification and slower-than-expected progress on affordable housing pledges. The Beltline says 17 miles of continuous, paved trail will be completed by April, in time for the World Cup.

The global spotlight will be a success if it passes what Mr. Higgs called the “AJC test” — with the city’s newspaper of record reporting that small businesses benefited from tourist traffic and the broader area won new investment.

For all those who will pony up for rare match tickets, many more guests will be in Atlanta just to feel the energy of the soccer tournament, Mr. Higgs said. That is a huge opportunity for the 5,000 businesses situated along the Beltline, which already account for some 30,000 jobs.

And the Beltline, he asserted, is “where Atlanta comes together.” The trail’s nonprofit Atlanta Beltline Inc. has unveiled a Business Readiness and Activation Toolkit in partnership with Invest Atlanta that includes vital information about hosting watch parties and other activations in a compliant way. The Mayor’s Office of Special Events may need to issue a permit, even for events outside the FIFA “clean zone,” so companies should already be looking at those rules.

And what FIFA calls “public viewings” fall into various categories depending on whether they’re revenue generating or exceed 1,000 guests. Learn more | See the Beltline’s World Cup hub

Efforts are afoot to continue beautifying existing areas while calling attention to the newer corridors, like the Southside section, adjacent to Pittsburgh Yards, where the annual Beltline Fest will be held during the World Cup.

The Beltline Marketplace — 12 shipping containers placed along the Beltline for rents of $300 per month — will be in full swing in time for the World Cup as well.

Mr. Higgs repeatedly pointed to Kelvin Collins, vice president of economic development for Atlanta Beltline Inc. as the person to know for inquiries.

In a release about the Beltline’s World Cup plans, Mr. Collins said they center around “readiness and access.”

“The World Cup presents a once-in-a-generation moment for Atlanta,” Mr. Collins said in a statement, “and our focus is on ensuring local businesses have the tools and visibility they need to participate in that moment in a way that’s authentic, inclusive, and rooted in community.”

GHCC unveils its Somos Futbol Georgia platform.

Somos Fútbol Georgia and National Center for Civil and Human Rights Exhibitions

Not to be outdone, the GHCC used the occasion to unveil its own initiative, Somos Fútbol Georgia, a guide to the state’s Latin American flavor designed “to ensure that the Latino experience of the World Cup is not just included, but centered.”

The platform includes guides of Atlanta neighborhoods for Hispanic guests, a directory of Latin restaurants and a look at local experiences, plus where to watch the games and shop.

Chamber President and CEO Veronica Maldonado-Torres also took a moment to highlight its upcoming Mexico business mission.

The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, where Ms. Maldonado Torres is on the board, is also making some changes, with its $58 million expansion creating space for six new galleries that lets it “respond to the world” in a way that it couldn’t before.

CEO Jill Savitt pointed out the new “Broken Promises” exhibition on Reconstruction, the period of Southern history after the Civil War which saw progress and then backlash with the imposition of Jim Crow laws.

By May, it will also open a gallery on soccer and human rights globally, focusing on how fans and teams have used the energy around the sport to drive forward movements of social change. The center is on the far edge of the FIFA Fan Zone, Ms. Savitt noted.

She also highlighted a “secret gallery” for young changemakers accessible only by elevator, as well as an addition she didn’tk know she was missing: soft-serve ice cream in the cafe.