Hi, I'm Dan Pramak, and welcome to Axios Recap's special series on America's Business Comeback.

Today is Thursday, May 27th.

New jobless claims are down.

Sports arena attendance is up, and we're focused on one small business community in Georgia.

One of the hallmarks of American small businesses is that they're woven into the fabric of a

community, as integral as the local schools or parks.

And that isn't often just about a single store or restaurant.

It's about local small businesses as a community themselves, helping to define a place

and the people who live there.

Now, this can be particularly true in areas with large immigrant populations, where the small

businesses play multiple roles, economic engines, as well as safe spaces where people can meet,

greet, and eat, kind of a constellation of home away from homes.

So today we wanted to focus on one such area in particular,

Beaufort Highway, a 10-mile stretch of state road just northeast of Atlanta.

For more than 40 years, it's been home to more than 1,000 immigrant-owned businesses,

with local residents tracing their roots back to dozens of countries.

Many of its acclaimed restaurants

and cafes are owned and operated by Asian and Latino business owners. And those small business

owners along Beaufort Highway had a very hard year in the pandemic, each in their own way.

And then, in March 2021, tragedy struck the metro Atlanta area. The spa murders, which targeted people of Asian descent

and forced the entire nation to reckon with a wave of anti-Asian hate crimes.

So today we wanted to speak with Lily Pabian, executive director of the nonprofit group

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