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Over the years, Spartanburg County has positioned itself as the best in the state and has been a destination for investment by large businesses with a focus on manufacturing.
Last year, it recorded $3.2 billion in capital projects and 1,742 new jobs.
But while big business is thriving, small businesses may be lagging behind. The Spartanburg County Council and the OneSpartanburg plan plan to change that by using an evidence-based approach to support the small.
“What we’re trying to do is make Spartanburg one of the best places in the country to be an entrepreneur,” said County Councilman Monier Abusaft.
Using America’s Recovery Plan funds, the county last year allocated $6 million to OneSpartanburg, a five-year comprehensive strategy for small- and small-owned business development. The nine-point strategy includes the provision of loans and grants, consultancy and streamlined technical assistance and marketing.
“It’s not just ‘here’s a check and good luck,'” said Alan Smith, CEO of OneSpartanburg. This is support in all respects,” he said.
When Spartanburg County lost its textile industry in the 1980s and ’90s, it had to find a way to fill the void, said David Britt, who has been on the county council since 1991. Manufacturing was the only way to stop the bleeding and Brit thanks BMW 1992. Notice that an automotive plant will be built in the county as required.
In the year Spartanburg will make three major capital investments by 2022, according to the South Carolina Department of Commerce. The county hopes to foster the same success among small and medium-sized businesses.
“As I like to say, ‘there’s gold in these hills in small-owned businesses,’ because it’s going to get to the point and there’s a lot of opportunity out there,” Britt said.
Spartanburg is underperforming in the number of small and medium-sized businesses. Spartanburg County’s population is 20 percent black, and the city of Spartanburg is 45 percent black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Despite that, the county has 4 percent fewer small businesses than the national average and about half of all black-owned businesses relative to the county’s black population, Smith said.
The rate of non-employer businesses among whites in Spartanburg is on par with the national average, according to OneSpartanburg, but the value of black-owned non-employer businesses is 30 percent lower than the average.
“We want to see those communities hit on all cylinders in order for our county to achieve maximum economic output,” said Abusaft, the only black member of the county council and a small business owner.
Abusaft and County Councilwoman Jessica Coker, also a small business owner, worked together to convince the council to support the plan.
According to the US Small Business Administration. Between 2000 and 2019, small businesses accounted for 65 percent of new jobs. Coker, a certified public accountant, said growth led by large companies would create a lack of services in the county without small business development. I will not continue.
“We don’t have anyone to cut our hair or change the oil in our car,” she said.
But setting up a small business comes with a huge learning curve.
Small companies often need to be bonded and insured. Entrepreneurs need to know how to get an employer ID number from the IRS, what type of corporation they need to be, and how to register. They need to learn how to make a business plan and build a business loan.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen small businesses fail because they didn’t get answers to their questions,” Coker said.
Part of the strategy is to streamline the process of connecting small businesses to resources that help them find those answers. Businesses that use the resources available in the program can enter into lucrative and life-changing contracts with large corporations.
OneSpartanburg acts as both a chamber of commerce and a corporate recruiter, so it has long-standing relationships with large companies that announce their move to the county, Smith said. That trust makes it easier to connect those big corporations with smaller, local people who can serve specific needs like maintenance, cleaning, catering or lawn care.
“When a small business person contracts with these major companies, it changes their whole life and the life of their family,” Abusaft said. “It can change the situation for the next generation of their family.”
Later this month, OneSpartanburg will launch a website and brand for the strategy. Part of that announcement will be the launch of a Business Success Center website where small businesses can connect with resources and connect with each other. The plan will be the first of many announcements over the course of the rest of the year.
For example, a business mentoring program won’t be publicly available for at least eight months, Smith says.
OneSpartanburg sent team members to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a local pilot program for its business mentoring program. Smith said MIT has previously worked with 119 communities. Spartanburg will be 120.
Right now, the toddler program is locked in with limited participants, but OneSpartanburg is recruiting mentors for the public launch. Mario Insabella, who started a commercial real estate company 15 years ago, said the process involves an interview and a resume.
Insabella Coker said he recruited him as a consultant. He said that if he successfully completes the recruitment process, he will be placed with businesses that can benefit from his unique experience.
“I am happy to be a member of the committee and the mentoring program.
In the interim, the strategy includes $2.4 million in loans and support for small businesses, with 30 percent of the funds allocated to small business owners in the first two years, Abusoft said.
People of color often struggle to access capital, which makes this part of the program especially critical.
“It’s called capitalism,” Abusaft said. “When you cut off the road to capital, few or no small businesses die.”
Smith said OneSpartanburg still needs to interview and select community development financial institutions that will administer the loan and grant program. CDFI may be able to find other sources of funding to increase its cash pot.
“If access to capital is a problem, we want to be able to remove that barrier,” Coker said. But small businesses that receive the money must file financial statements, attend seminars, and otherwise make sure the money isn’t wasted.
“We’re not just giving away free money,” she added.
Now, $6 million will be funded over five years. Smith said if the program is working properly and Spartanburg’s small businesses are growing, “we’ll have no choice but to make this sustainable.”
“At the end of the day, if we do a good job, we will build wealth for generations of people in Spartanburg County,” Smith added.
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