Small Business Spotlight

Small businesses have been disproportionately affected by the economic shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For economic developers seeking to help these small businesses, beyond the federal response, experts in entrepreneurship and downtown revitalization are weighing in. 

Main Street America is offering a COVID-19 Main Street Webinar Series, which addresses small business as well as organizational health and local safety. The North Carolina Rural Center has launched Rural Talk: A Virtual Advocacy Speaker Series. On May 14, several experts will weigh in on the topic of small business and entrepreneurship from a rural lens. 

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is focused on entrepreneurship, and in recent blog post,  Wendy Guillies suggests "10 ways to make sure small businesses weather the storm and can rebuild for the long term." In short, the post suggests: 

  • Eliminate business registration and occupational licensing fees until full economic recovery.
  • Have state and local governments partner with philanthropy to create funding pools that reduce fees and interest of short-term lending to businesses not eligible for SBA loans.
  • Create an SBA set-aside for businesses under 20 employees.
  • Provide tax incentives to new businesses to offset health care costs.
  • Forgive student loan debt for entrepreneurs.
  • Create a plan with the SBA to develop and deploy an Entrepreneurship Corp, or “E-Corps,” to provide support to underserved communities that apply for assistance.
  • Replacing licensing with less onerous forms of regulation, such as certifications or permits, in industries where public health is not seriously threatened.
  • Requesting that Congress make substantial funding available to states for strengthening the private financing of new businesses by expanding capital access to people of color, women, immigrant, and rural entrepreneurs. 
  • Urging capital access programs to give preference to entrepreneurs launching new businesses by making the age of a business, not its size, a key factor in approving loans.
  • Including entrepreneurship and applicable information and tools in workforce training programs to help tens of thousands of young Americans start their own businesses.