EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine May 2020 | Page 28

Small businesses are critical to the fabric of the community. It is not unusual
to see small businesses sponsoring youth teams, providing gift certificates to
charities, or working on community projects.”
Small Business Administration figures for
2019 show that businesses with fewer than 500
employees provide jobs for more than 96,000
local people and pay them $3.3 billion annually.
Nancy Keefer, president and CEO of the
Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce,
said small businesses are a major component
Nancy Keefer of Volusia County’s economy. “More than 80
percent of our businesses would be classified as small businesses,
with less than twenty employees.”
“Small businesses are critical to the fabric of the community,”
she said—because they become involved in more than business
transactions. “It is not unusual to see small businesses sponsoring
youth teams, providing gift certificates to charities, or working
on community projects. They are major contributors to the brand,
culture, and success of a community.”
Lou Paris, director of the Prince Entrepreneurship Program at
Stetson University, says that small businesses can provide the “on
ramp” into business for local entrepreneurs, and those businesses
improve the community.
“It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering, innovative idea,”
Paris says. “If you decide to open up a laundry, and it’s successful,
it’s because the community needed it. People who figure out how to
solve a specific problem benefit the community.”
Often, he said, those individuals start out with small businesses.
“When we think of Volusia County businesses, we think of the
Speedway or Raydon—but if you focus on those big players, you
lose perspective on the weight and value of the smaller employers,
even outfits with two or three employees.”
As a small business grows, Paris said, it helps to strengthen the
community. “They’re making more money, spending more, paying
taxes, and that makes everything in the community better. They’re
buying a bigger house or a better car or going out to eat more.
There’s a very tangible impact.”
Small Businesses Face a Big Challenge
The current crisis aside, many small businesses face an uphill
struggle finding the capital to invest in equipment and to stay afloat
while the business gains traction.
“It can be very hard for start-ups to qualify for a loan,” Jessica
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