I recently had the honor of addressing the assembled gathering for the Chamber’s Small Business Awards Luncheon. Standing on stage facing an audience of 1,100 people who had come to recognize the unsung achievements of small businesses was a moment of discovery for me.
We didn’t have a big-name speaker – in fact, there was no keynote presentation. There were no giveaways or other gimmicks to draw a crowd. The entire event consisted of stories about the trials and triumphs of some outstanding local small businesses.
Despite the straightforwardness of the event and its focus on everyday businesspeople, I looked out into a sea of a thousand faces and thought to myself, “These folks really understand the value of small businesses.”
I wish I could say the same for the broader community. Small businesses employ about half of all private sector employees. Over the last decade, these unheralded companies have created 60 % to 80% of the new jobs in any given year.
Unfortunately, small businesses rarely get the respect and media attention they deserve. To be fair, small business stories often unfold too slowly and undramatically to seem sensational.
Many small businesses make their mark incrementally over long periods of time, and their economic contributions may seem comparatively unimpressive unless they are considered as a group.
I am proud that the Chattanooga Chamber hosts the only major event in Hamilton County which focuses solely on the successes and contributions of small businesses. The event provides a golden opportunity to recognize what this unsung group adds to our community, while shining a spotlight on a few standout examples. (Please see our cover feature on Page 12).
Recently, a local speaker, while addressing one of the Chamber councils, said he thought the Chamber wasn’t paying enough attention to small businesses. I wish he had attended the Small Business Awards celebration and observed the crowd that day.
He would have seen that the Chamber’s volunteer leadership, member-investors and staff care passionately about small business. After all, the Chamber is a small business and that means I understand the worries about meeting payroll and providing health benefits that other small businesses experience.
I am also aware of the successes that small enterprises accomplish. That’s why the Chamber devotes so much of its time and resources to efforts that support small businesses:
- Running one of the largest business incubators in the U.S. to help launch small businesses
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Hosting the Business EXPO, a showcase for small and large businesses
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Coordinating hundreds of events designed to foster business relationships every year.
In these ways and so many others, the Chamber is a forum where small businesses can flex their combined muscle. The Chamber isn’t just the sum of 1,400 individual companies. It’s also one large network of members supported by a professional staff. Our members know they can focus on their day-to-day business because the Chamber staff is representing their interests in Nashville and proactively developing new programs like Business Building Blocks to help them work smarter.
Every member business is an important part of the Chamber network because every business (no matter what size) strengthens our ability to provide you with the best business connections arou
