On Monday April 24th, the Statesboro Business Commission hosted a small business listening session for local entrepreneurs and small business owners within the community. The event took place in the Statesboro City Hall Council Chambers from 6pm-7pm. The business commission sought to gain the feedback and perspectives of local business owners in the community to work to relieve some of the limiting barriers to economic progress for small business owners.
Countless entrepreneurs showed up to the meeting to gain additional support and resources for advancing their small business's growth and development.
The meeting began promptly with the Statesboro Business Commission panel delivering its mission statement.
The Chair of the Statesboro Business Commission, Gloria Strauthers, delivered it clearly, stating that:
“The Statesboro Business Commission gives local entrepreneurs the opportunity to voice their concerns on the various factors that may be affecting small business success here in Statesboro. Furthermore, this commission is for all business life cycles. Simply put, the commission serves every business; whether it is in its start-up phase, or whether it is in its more accelerated phase of its business cycle. The Statesboro Business Commission is here to collect your feedback, and coordinate with the City of Statesboro City Council members to provide more support to local small business owners towards maintaining success here in Statesboro.”
Following the meeting introduction from Strauthers, the meeting followed an interactive format, with open-ended questions being listed on countless white boards across the room.
Some of the questions asked were: “How can we bring extra resources to help you maximize your earnings?”; “What was the biggest barrier to entry when starting up your business?”'; “How can we highlight more local businesses in low-traffic areas?”, etc.
Many individuals gave various answers to these questions by sharing their personal experiences. Some of the cited nuisances were: downtown parking limitations, numerous vacant buildings, overwhelming licensing fees, expensive local advertising options, and low-levels of downtown traffic for Main Street retail shopping.
Some offered solutions by the commission were to increase more activity in the downtown Statesboro area through hosting more community events (e.g. a 4-part concert series taking place downtown during Summer 2023), encouraging the utilization of the UGA Small Business Development Commission for small business development (located in the downtown BIG Center), and using online resources such as Score.org for entrepreneurial resources and support.
The Statesboro Business Commission panel consists of 7 local business owners who have a degree of expertise and insight regarding the local small business owner experience. These business owners are: AJ Je, Tom McKeithen, Jr.twani (Tandoor & Tap), Alivia Lloyd (Sum’mo Tea Café) (McKeithen’s True Value Hardware), Prince Preston (Contractor Wholesale Floors), Maria Proctor (Prom Bae), Gloria Strauthers (Exodus Management & Consulting, LLC), and Quaeisha Oglesby (C&E Learning Academy).
Statesboro city council member Venus Mack, who represents the city’s third district and operates a small business within the city limits, initially proposed the idea of creating a "Business Commission" to members of the Statesboro city council in early 2022.
This Listening Session was the first of many Listening Sessions in which the SBC will collect feedback from local small business owners on the small business owner experience in Statesboro.
The feedback will then be used to provide recommendations to the Statesboro City Council, regarding how to support local businesses moving forward.
For more information on the Statesboro Business Commission, please visit the City of Statesboro website at https://www.statesboroga.gov/ or call (912) 764-5468.
For the full Business Commission Listening Session Resource List, CLICK HERE.
