Small businesses make up 99 percent of all businesses nationwide—a percentage that carries over to our local economy. A study completed by the Virginia Employment Commission in the third quarter of 2016 revealed 2,477 Charlottesville businesses had 499 employees or fewer—the standard definition of a small business is one with 500 or fewer employees. In fact, in Charlottesville most businesses are micro businesses—one to four employees—with 1,355 total.
Betty Hoge, director of the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center in Charlottesville, says she would like people to know that small businesses contribute not just to the local economy but to our everyday quality of life. Community leaders are often the ones helming these businesses, and they are the same people who give back to nonprofits and support local arts organizations.
“Many more of those dollars stay in the community and get circulated multiple times so that the economic impact is huge,” she says. “I want people to really understand and appreciate the value of small businesses to our economy and the quality of life that we live.”