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New program to boost small businesses
(by Sue Reid - July 28, 2010)
New program to boost small businesses
By SUE REID
What was considered a gap in incentives for small businesses in Solon is beginning to be filled with the creation of a program that has cost savings at its core.
"Get Savings," a new initiative geared toward the city's small businesses, including those with 20 employees or fewer, resulted from discussions among members of Solon's enterprise zone committee.
The committee had requested that Economic Development Director Peggy Weil-Dorfman consider some programing to assist and attract small businesses. Programs already in place cater toward the large, growing businesses, she said.
The Get Savings program, presented in conjunction with the Solon Chamber of Commerce, is the first program under the "Get Started in Solon" package. It benefits existing businesses which are relocating within the city by giving them a four-month window to receive significant savings on business services offered by the chamber's membership.
Chamber President Nancy Traum said 35 chamber businesses have responded to take part.
"The chamber is extremely pleased to be participating with the City of Solon to welcome new businesses with the "Get Savings" program. "Many of our members have responded with discounts that will help new businesses become successfully established in Solon." The chamber has over 500 members.
Ms. Weil-Dorfman said that when this program was presented to the chamber board, "they were very supportive of it.
"I appreciate the chamber's willingness to partner with us on this as well as other programs," she said.
Ms. Weil-Dorfman said a new or expanding business does not need to be a chamber member to take advantage of the program. In addition, businesses of all sizes can use the incentive.
Not only can small businesses benefit from such services as accounting or legal expertise, as well as payroll administration or even caterers or restaurants, but so can the home-based businesses that may be ready to make the move into commercial space.
This program in turn helps the city, Ms. Weil-Dorfman said, by attracting more small businesses. In her research prior to implementing this program, she said there was 20 percent of available space in the city's industrial area that would be suitable for small businesses. A goal of the program is to fill smaller multi-tenant vacancies that the city has, she said, as well as to assist smaller entrepreneurial businesses.
Concurrent to formulating these programs, Ms. Weil-Dorfman was contacted by a property owner of a multi-tenant building on Solon Road. Don Gruly was looking to work with the city to attract small businesses, she said. His input was valuable in formulating some programs, Ms. Weil-Dorfman said.
An example would be tailoring the city's job creation grant program to smaller businesses. Ms. Weil-Dorfman hopes to bring a proposal with regards to that to City Council in the near future, she said.
"We want to encourage small businesses to come to Solon," Councilwoman Toni M. Richmond, a member of the enterprise zone committee said. "A lot of our efforts have been geared toward the larger companies, and we want the smaller businesses to know we are business friendly to them. We want to encourage them to be in our community."
"It's about looking to see if we can meet the needs of smaller businesses," Councilman William I. Russo, a member of the enterprise zone committee, said. "It's always good to take a look at these items to make sure they make sense for everyone involved. It has to be a win-win situation."
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