We had the good fortune of connecting with Tron Banks and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Tron, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thoughts behind starting Pittsburgh Community Market was to help prepare black and brown entrepreneurs in South West Atlanta. While I was taking Real Estate and Development at Georgia State University in 2016 I learned about all of the new development coming to the Swats. I felt like if our small businesses weren’t prepared the people in the communities wouldn’t be the benefactors of new commercial investment in the area.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As an extension of the market I was able to do a documentary for Elevate Atlanta called Pittsburgh: Past, Present, Future. The documentary brought together new and legacy residents of Pittsburgh. We held 3 weeks of workshops and got community members to tell their stories of Pittsburgh, and have a dialogue of how the community is changing.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would Beltline hop for 3 Days. I would take a day to explore Ponce City Market and Krog. We would visit the Southside and Westside trail day 2 for a skate. Day 3 we would go to Bellwood Quarry and the Bankhead Trail. Day 4 go to a nice breakfast at Escobar in Castleberry Hill lunch at Ten or Busy Bee’s. We would hang out at a lounge that night. Day 5 Atlantic Station and West Midtown to shop. Day 6 would be a Saturday so we would go to the Pittsburgh Community Market at Pittsburgh Yards. Day 7 we would park hop between Piedmont and Rodney Cook park in Vine City.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
James Harris of Core Ventures has been a mentor over the years. He’s a real estate developer and he has a business incubator called Create Cohort which I graduated from. I learned during the cohort, and alot from him as a mentee.
Website: pittsburghcommunitymarket@gmail.com
Instagram: pittsburghcommunitymarket
Facebook: pittsburghcommunitymarket