This morning I joined DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson at the Emory Conference Center Hotel in Atlanta for the opening session of the 2026 DeKalb County Small Business Summit, a fireside chat on building wealth through entrepreneurship. The audience was small business owners from across the county.
Lorraine has been a partner to Operation HOPE for years. During the pandemic she directed funding to Operation HOPE to launch the DeKalb Entrepreneurship Training Program, an eight-week course for DeKalb residents at no cost, and she has kept small business at the center of the county’s agenda ever since. If you want a primer on how she thinks, our earlier conversation, The Business of Government Nobody Explains, covers how counties really work and why an ownership mindset changes everything.
The summit was built for people who are building. Four panels took on turning an idea into a business, using AI, finding funding, and doing business with DeKalb County. A pitch competition put five DeKalb businesses on one stage, and the winner takes home a $16,500 Business Growth Package with strategic consulting, brand strategy and mentorship.
Thank you to Lorraine, the DeKalb County Office of the CEO, the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce and Decide DeKalb for putting entrepreneurs first.
Event: 2026 DeKalb County Small Business Summit, Emory Conference Center Hotel, Atlanta, October 14, 2026. Hosted by the DeKalb County Office of the CEO in partnership with the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce and Decide DeKalb.
