Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff

Cookie entrepreneur Ella Russell says of Emancipation Avenue: "It means that I'm free to be a business owner."

Cookie entrepreneur Ella Russell says of Emancipation Avenue: "It means that I'm free to be a business owner."

Guest have their photo taken after the re-naming of the former Dowling Ave. to the new Emancipation Ave. Monday, June 19, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Guest have their photo taken after the re-naming of the former Dowling Ave. to the new Emancipation Ave. Monday, June 19, 2017, in Houston. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )

Members of Houston Southeast and guests including Mayor Sylvester Turner cut the ribbon for Emancipation Avenue.

Members of Houston Southeast and guests including Mayor Sylvester Turner cut the ribbon for Emancipation Avenue.

Emancipation Avenue a home for economic dreams in Third Ward

Ella Russell's early taste testers were at the Eldorado Ballroom. Her church used to hold services in the historic Third Ward building, and Russell gave out free sweets she'd baked to the congregation.

That passion has since blossomed into a business. Now, Russell is keeping her Third Ward roots by selling cookies, brownies and "stuffedcups" - a cupcake with a cookie baked inside - at Crumbville, TX, on the corner of Elgin and Emancipation Avenue.

"Cupcakes and cookies, they'll sell anywhere," she said. "But I feel like in this area, there aren't enough businesses owned by people who look like me."

Russell said the area used to be filled with innovative black business owners. But many of those businesses closed. She'd like to see a resurgence of companies that can keep money in the community.

Economic development is a focus of local officials, too, with new street signs designating the area as an economic corridor. Officials gathered under these signs on Monday to celebrate changing the street's name to Emancipation Avenue. The street was previously named for Confederate officer Richard "Dick" Dowling. It runs by Emancipation Park, which just completed its $33.6 million makeover.

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"I'm excited for what's happening in our city," Mayor Sylvester Turner said Monday. "This is the dawn of new days."

Spurring economic development is among Third Ward officials' focus moving forward. They want to create entrepreneurs and small-business owners from the community to ensure residents aren't displaced by gentrification.

"We don't want to just attract the creative class," said Minister Robert Muhammad, vice chairman of the board for Houston Southeast. "We want to create the creative class from within."

Houston Southeast, the management district for a region encompassing the Third Ward, the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center, is placing "economic corridor" on the street signs of areas where it wants to promote economic activity, said Hina Musa, executive director for Houston Southeast.

More details will be released July 14, but Musa said the region's corridors will be Emancipation, Almeda, Blodgett, Scott, Old Spanish Trail and Griggs.

Houston Southeast has been hosting workshops called Invest in My Own Community, or IMOC. Some assist novices in investing or developing, while masters workshops are available by invitation only to experienced people who will receive assistance with plotting out properties that are good for development and investment.

Musa said Houston Southeast is also trying to start a microloan or grant program to improve the faades of businesses.

Muhammad said the group also would like to train youth in trades such as plumbing, carpentry and landscaping. Further out, he envisions a "Silicon Bayou" that brings robotics, artificial intelligence, coding and other technology jobs to the area.

Similarly, the Emancipation Economic Development Council and Project Row Houses announced in January that they received $460,000 from the Kinder Foundation. The money was earmarked for seven projects, including a wealth-building symposium, affordable-housing initiatives and a neighborhood cleanup team ahead of Emancipation Park's grand reopening.

Project Row Houses is a community-based arts and culture nonprofit group. Its Artist Rounds program opens houses for artists to display their work, and a recent round included small business owners. Russell, with Crumbville, teamed up with artist Anthony Suber to create an art installation that was a bakery popup shop. It was open for four months.

That was the first time Russell's business had a physical location. After the event, Project Row Houses asked Russell to join its business incubation program. She opened Crumbville, selling her E-dub-a-licious Treats, on Oct. 8.

Monday was special for Russell, 43. Being born in Galveston on Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas, she was pleased to have a business across from Emancipation Park and the newly minted Emancipation Avenue.

"It means that I'm free to be a business owner," Russell said. "I'm free to be whatever I want to be. And I'm being it."

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Emancipation Avenue a home for economic dreams in Third Ward - Houston Chronicle