There are more than 1 million small businesses in the state of Georgia and PMI Cornerstone is humbled and proud to be counted in this number. We know that 2020 has been filled with many challenges and the year ahead is still one of uncertainty for many. The nature of our business as property and community managers is to help provide our clients with places they are proud to call home. As an extension of this we want to support the businesses that help to make our neighborhoods a great place to live.
HOW THE LOSS OF SMALL BUSINESS AFFECTS LOCAL COMMUNITIES
We have seen firsthand how some of the family businesses that we love and have served our neighborhood for years are hurting. When a small business falters or closes it does more than affect the owner and their employees. It can adversely impact the neighborhood it has serviced for so many years.
Additional changes occur when this happens within a community. Sales tax revenue decreases, and that puts pressure on the local government. They may need to cut services to your neighborhood and those that surround it.
In the meantime, your neighbors may feel that the area has changed too much for them to raise their families. Thus, they might decide to move. As one family departs others will follow. Eventually, this results in a decrease in property values.
SMALL BUSINESSES CONTRIBUTE TO ROBUST LOCAL ECONOMIES
The existence of thriving small businesses brings incentives such as lower property taxes, along with state & federal subsidies. As small businesses grow and thrive this creates jobs and improves the local economy for those in that community. Government revenues increase, which can also bring upgrades to an area’s infrastructure. Real estate values also increased as apartment renters and homeowners staked their claims to revitalized neighborhoods. Even during tough times, like the Great Recession, these locally owned businesses became the pride of communities.
THE TOUGH TIMES OF 2020 FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Sadly, during the COVID-19 pandemic many restaurants and stores temporarily closed at first while others eventually had to close their doors permanently. Many of the local restaurants that we love have shifted in response to the pandemic and now offer more takeout and delivery options. Some had to leave their brick-and-mortar spaces all together and have become creative by finding ways to provide service to their customers virtually or they sell the products that are the fabric of our lives online.
At PMI Cornerstone, we want to celebrate the everyday people in our communities who provide the goods and services that help our families each day and make the neighborhoods in which we live a place that we love to call home.
SUPPORTING SMALL BUSINESS AND THE CORNERSTONE CONNECTS SPOTLIGHT
Each month, we will spotlight a small business from one of the dozens of neighborhoods we support. We will interview the owner(s) of the local business and post them on our website blog. Plus, we will promote them on our social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
By doing this, we hope to encourage consumers within and outside of the small business’ neighborhood to visit them in-person or online. As society slowly gets back to a new normal, the spotlight can give an individual or a family that owns a business additional breathing room.
Stay tuned to this space for the first group of small businesses. Please also feel free to drop the name of your business or nominate a business that you would like to show additional support.
#smallbusinessownersunite#togetherwearegreater#supportsmallbusiness
Photo by Anna Tarazevich from Pexels
