There's a new bar and restaurant up the street from me that has in its short existence attracted a steady crowd of patrons and is constantly coming up with new ways to attract customers. Thanks to its opening, there are at least 15 people, some of whom I knew before they started working there, gainfully employed.
Paragraphs like this one could be written every day in neighborhoods all over Philadelphia and the surrounding region, as just about every day brings with it the opening of a new small business. These businesses are the real engines of economic and employment growth: surveys over the years have shown that small businesses account for anywhere from one-half to two-thirds of all employment in America.
New small businesses, however, are especially important as drivers of economic growth. Recent research conducted by the Ewing Marion Kaufmann Foundation revealed that startup companies less than five years old accounted for all net new jobs in the United States.
Which means that businesses like that new watering hole, which has yet to celebrate its first birthday, are the key to Philadelphia's future. And yet one has this nagging feeling that the city doesn't make it easy to start new small businesses.
Another tale sticks in my head. It's the story of a man who, about five years ago, set out to open a new sushi restaurant around the corner from me. For the better part of a year, the would-be restaurateur shared with the members of the eGullet.org discussion form his journey from idea to...ultimately pulling the plug. The process of dealing with various city agencies, the "expediters" who help people navigate the maze of those city agencies, contractors, and jumping through hoops of all kinds ate through all his working capital, and what could have been a real addition to a lively neighborhood instead became an empty shell for several months until a local specialty pharmacy relocated to the space.
If the city cut the bureaucratic red tape, it would be easier for small businesses to form and open in Philadelphia. If the city did away with a business tax structure that socks it to businesses even if they lose money (as many ultimately successful startups do at the outset), it would be easier for small businesses to survive and grow. There are probably a number of other things that the city could do to promote new small businesses. Why isn't it doing them? It'd be good for the local economy, and thus good for local employment. We'd all like that, wouldn't we?
Local employment is what PhillyJobs.com is all about.
By Sandy Smith
Sandy Smith is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his career in public relations and corporate communications. His work has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia CityPaper, PGN, and a number of Web sites. Philly-area residents may also recognize him as "MarketStEl" of discussion-board fame. He has been a part of the great reserve army of freelance writers since January 2009 and is actively seeking opportunities wherever they may lie.
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