“So, what we want to do is the whole community to celebrate and educate and network with other small business owners.”
Jenny Waugh is Vice President of Economic Growth for the Grand Rapids Chamber. She says Small Biz Week West Michigan aims to support regional small businesses, which are nearly all businesses.
“It depends on which statistic, if you go with under 500 employees or under 50 employees, but it’s estimated to be 95% to 98% of all businesses in Michigan are qualified as small.”
According to the Small Business Association of Michigan, shifting just 10% of online shopping to local businesses would generate $1.1 billion in new economic activity and boost labor income by $557 million.
“So, we need to support the sole practitioners and the companies that maybe only have three or four employees as much as we need to support the companies that have 50, 60, 100 employees, because they’re just as small and could be facing some of the same struggles and challenges as everyone else.”
The Grand Rapids Chamber will host a kickoff event on Monday, May 4th at GLC Live at 20 Monroe from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at the chamber’s website.
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