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Sheri Jones, director of the Small Business Center at Vance-Granville Community College; Michele Burgess, president of the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce; and Kathy Walters, director of Henderson’s Downtown Development Commission, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Thursday at 11 a.m.
Jones announced that in response to the cancellation of National Small Business Week 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the Small Business Center Network (SBCN) is promoting small businesses through a coordinated social media campaign called NC Small Business Week.
Running June 8-12, 2020, the NC Small Business Week campaign encourages support for local small businesses with the slogan: “Go Big for Small Business!”
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy,” said Jones. “They create two-thirds of new jobs, represent almost half the economic activity in the country and drive innovation and competition.”
With 48 percent of all U.S. employees working for a small business, including 18 percent who work for businesses with 20 or fewer employees, Jones said small business entrepreneurs “come up with ideas, they test them, take them to market and create competition. They lead in innovation.”
With 90 percent of the H-V Chamber of Commerce’s 335 member organizations classified as a small business, Burgess said this sector of the business population is crucial to the local economy.
“The Chamber wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for small businesses and our partnerships,” Burgess stated. “A small business owner does everything. He doesn’t have an HR manager or finance director that he can call; he’s everything. When we partner with a business and they join the Chamber, they hire us on, in a sense, to help research and provide employee training and resources.”
Walters explained the VGCC Small Business Center, the Chamber and Henderson Downtown Development are all connected in a partnership with each other to make local small businesses successful.
“All of downtown, with the exception of government, is small business,” explained Walters. “When someone contacts me and tells me it is their dream to own a business downtown, I refer them to Sheri and the Small Business Center so they can discuss creating a small business plan. We also work with Michele and the Chamber all of the time by giving those interested in downtown a copy of the Chamber’s annual Envision Vance magazine, referring them to the Chamber for business resources and putting them in touch with downtown business owners.”
Jones said these three local entities also work well with their counterpart organizations in the four-county area. “Each of our four counties – Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren – are blessed to have local small business support through their economic development offices, through their respective Chamber of Commerce, through downtown development organizations and through the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments.”
With COVID-19 canceling many plans, including the H-V Chamber’s Small Business of the Year recognition originally scheduled for May, Burgess said the four-county area is showing its interconnection and support for small businesses by joining together for a combined awards ceremony slated for the fall.
“The Henderson-Vance Chamber is joining with the Granville, Franklin and Warren Chambers, in partnership with presenting sponsor Duke Energy, to honor each county’s Small Business of the Year recipient at a luncheon on September 30. Each Chamber will select a small business based on their perseverance, resiliency and community spirit,” said Burgess.
Burgess said it’s not hard to find small businesses that have demonstrated all three attributes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To hear the interview with Jones, Burgess and Walters in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on Town Talk.