Small companies have confronted extraordinary challenges for the reason that onset of the pandemic.
First, they needed to take in the preliminary shock of the devastating shutdowns and scramble to acquire PPP loans. They then needed to face mitigations and modifications in client habits ensuing from new waves of the pandemic.
The Nice Resignation and provide chain disruptions grew to become the subsequent challenges for the small enterprise neighborhood. Now rising inflation has created further hurdles for small companies nonetheless attempting to navigate a workforce scarcity permeating by nearly all industries and areas.
What does the small enterprise neighborhood want from policymakers over two years after the onset of the pandemic? How can Illinois politicians change the notion that our state is a tough place to personal and function a small enterprise?
Additional, what actions can politicians take to retain small companies and entities others to contemplate relocating to the Land of Lincoln?
These are essential questions for each small enterprise house owners and politicians to contemplate as a result of collaboration will probably be essential to help the small enterprise neighborhood and enhance the Illinois financial system.
Prioritizing the small enterprise neighborhood
Politicians should have interaction and work in tandem with the small enterprise neighborhood throughout these unsure instances. Certainly, small enterprise house owners mustn’t really feel that passing laws that helps small companies is a monumental elevate. Illinois politicians should prioritize the small companies that drive our financial system.
Prior to now, a number of legislative cycles might have been wanted to cross insurance policies that help the small enterprise neighborhood. Given the present challenges going through small companies, nevertheless, they will not look forward to legislators to make this laws a precedence. Whereas politicians ought to at all times be proactively pushing a small enterprise agenda that may help the spine of our financial system, this has by no means been extra necessary given the difficulties and uncertainty going through small companies.
Altering the narrative
Different states drive the narrative that Illinois is a tough place to personal and function a enterprise. Actually, they’ve an curiosity in poaching our companies as a result of that may improve their financial system and lead to extra tax income.
Illinois should battle again with greater than public celebrations when a big company decides to relocate to our state. These company relocations go each methods. You additionally hardly ever see a small-business proprietor overly excited over a company relocation until it occurs to have a direct influence on their enterprise.
Illinois policymakers ought to transfer public insurance policies that help small and native companies. They need to then spend as a lot time speaking about how these insurance policies will help small companies and our financial system as attainable. Small enterprise advocacy teams ought to do their half to amplify the message. By means of collaboration, policymakers and the small enterprise neighborhood can enact impactful insurance policies and enhance the notion of Illinois small enterprise local weather.
Small companies are the engine that drives our financial system. Nonetheless, this has been a remarkably robust interval for a lot of of those necessary job creators. With the frequent emergence of recent challenges, the small enterprise neighborhood shouldn’t be out of the woods.
There has by no means been a extra essential time for small enterprise house owners and advocates to have interaction policymakers. In flip, there has by no means been a extra necessary time for policymakers to embrace the small enterprise neighborhood, prioritize their points, enact insurance policies that may help small companies and communicate very publicly about these efforts.
• Elliot Richardson is co-founder and president of the Small Enterprise Advocacy Council.