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If "standing on business" was a person, it would be the late A.G. Gaston."Not only did he start and own and operate about 10 different businesses that employed throughout his history, hundreds if not thousands or a thousand people," said Bob Dickerson, and he would know. Dickerson was one of those who Gaston employed at Citizens Federal Savings Bank."I was over the loan department, but part of my job was making sure that people pay their loans. In fact, that was my first job at the bank," Dickerson said. >> ‘WALKING IN HISTORY��: Preserving and revitalizing Birmingham’s Historic 4th Avenue North Business DistrictGaston established the bank in 1956, opening the A.G. Gaston Motel two years earlier.Dickerson fondly remembers the motel in its heyday and why Gaston built it in the first place."Back in the days, this is in the 50s, early 50s, African Americans did not have access to hotels," Dickerson said. "And so, in thinking about the fact that you had conventions, I think Birmingham was in line for a Baptist convention. That would be a lot of people coming. So, twofold purpose. If I build a hotel, I'm going to sell up my rooms. And, you know, that's the economic driver. And then we need to have a nice place for Black people to go and stay.">> DETERMINED DJ’s: How Birmingham’s Black radio stars transcended color and transformed Alabama’s airwavesThe motel would become an important Birmingham landmark, housing many celebrities and civil rights leaders."The Gaston Motel was where Martin Luther King stayed when the marches were here in Birmingham and other events in Birmingham, the Gaston Motel was the place that they met and plotted and planned a lot of the things that happened during the civil rights movement," Dickerson said.The facility eventually closed in 1986, but has since re-opened after an historic multimillion-dollar restoration project performed in partnership with the city of Birmingham and the National Park Service, along with a grant from the Mellon Foundation.>> LIVING OUT THEIR CREED: A Birmingham co-working space’s efforts to boost Black business ownersWhile the motel stands as the most prominent symbol of Gaston's legacy, there's also his boys and girls club."It started off the A.G. Gaston Boy's Club right down the street from where we're standing right now," Dickerson said. "Now, his boys and girls club. So not only did he do things to make money and find those ways to fill those kinds of needs, you know, he'd feel the need to make sure that boys and girls have a place to go, a safe place to go, so that they are good, they're safe, and they're learning something in the afternoons."Gaston's philanthropic footprint lives on �� as does his business legacy. Dickerson made sure of that with the A.G. Gaston Conference, held every February for the last 20 years.Dickerson's intent was to use the late Birmingham business mogul as an example, to economically empower Black people through business ownership. This, after decades of disenfranchisement due to racist policies.>> BACK IN BUSINESS: The latest upgrades to the historic Carver Theater"So we wanted to do that in the end to make sure that other people understood the need for growing and developing black businesses," Dickerson said. "Our theme has generally been economic empowerment through enterprise development, and we still believe that that is a key and something that we should be doing as a community. We should be feeding into and leaning into this aspect of trying to grow Black companies, especially here in Birmingham." Dickerson says his annual conference has a strong record of success."Every year, we do something that helps to train the business community. And so one of the most encouraging things I get when somebody walks up to me and said I was at the conference when such and such spoke up, when you said this or I made this connection at your conference. So, yes, there are some good things that are coming out of the AG Gaston Conference," Dickerson said. According to Dickerson, Gaston's success essentially came down to one simple idea:"Find a need and fill it."