By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
It’s Small Business Week and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce plans to make a more concerted effort to celebrate the week this year.
Chamber spokesperson Kristi Bailey says the Chamber has a number of activities designed to educate small business owners or would-be owners as well as raise awareness about the local economic impact of small businesses.
“Of course, during Shop St. Joseph, we do a lot about retail and then we have Restaurant Week,” Bailey tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. “So, this is really about supporting all small businesses, because there are a lot of small businesses that aren’t retail or restaurants.”
Education is a feature of Small Business Week, both educating current small business owners and helping those considering making the jump to start their own business. Some fun is planned as well.
“We really wanted a good mix of educational things for business owners or potential business owners, but then some fun things for consumers to go and spend money and support them as well,” Bailey says.
The week starts with Small Business Bingo. A tour of Innovation Stockyard, the business incubator on the Missouri Western State University campus, is planned for today. Innovation Stockyard sponsors a small business 101 workshop tomorrow for those thinking about starting a small business.
The Chamber is partnering with Latinos Connect to host a Latino Business Seminar Tuesday evening at Rolling Hills Library. The weekly Cup of Joe this Wednesday morning at the St. Joseph Library will focus on small businesses. There is a Small Business Member Crawl and a Small Business Owner Roundtable planned. A workshop, “Understanding Your Customer,” will be held Thursday. Downtown Retail Scavenger Hunt will also be held.
Bailey says many of the businesses St. Joseph area residents rely on are small businesses.
“Dry cleaners, your pest control people, your insurance agents; all of those places are small businesses as well. You don’t have to have a cash register at the front door to be a small business,” Bailey says. “Really, about 85% of the chamber members are small business owners.”
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