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Small Business Prosperity

If each of the local businesses with 10 employees or less in the Portland area were able to add one employee, 39,000 new jobs would be created, effectively replacing nearly all of the metro area jobs lost in the past three years.

The Small Business Prosperity Strategy is a collaborative effort of the Alliance, local small businesses, and City government to improve the small business environment immediately and over the long term.

This means improving conditions for entrepreneurs to start businesses, supporting business growth and expansion, and constantly delivering the perspective of small business to policy makers, government officials, and the public at large.

Building upon past studies and current efforts, our charge in the Prosperity Strategy is very clear: Create a plan of visible actions with significant economic impact.

Within the Prosperity Strategy there are more than 40 initiatives recommended to provide the most relevant support to the broadest spectrum of local small businesses – creating an overall environment that fosters small business and job growth.

Portland has tools, but it needs to better organize its toolbox. Portland has a variety of small business support agencies that provide a myriad of resources, ranging from counseling to financing to advocacy. All of these organizations, including the PBA, PDC and the City - are in business together: creating and marketing Portland as a livable community and a positive place to do business.

An uncertain economy heightens the need for change. We must:

• Raise Awareness of the importance of small business.
• Improve the understandability and predictability of the business environment.
• Enhance and better distribute tools for small business success.
• Focus economic development on retention and expansion.
• Organize and build the small business voice.

Small business is strong in Portland. Our surveys confirmed what all previous studies have attempted to instill – that, on average, Portland small businesses are very small. More than 60 percent of respondents are businesses with five employees or less. More than 40 percent of the Small Business Prosperity Strategy survey respondents have been in business for more than 10 years, and written survey results indicate that nearly 30 percent of respondents are grossing more than $1 million annually.

Businesses employing between six and 50 people were more likely than the average to consider hiring in the near future, but all respondents indicated it was unlikely they would be laying off employees.

The Portland Business Alliance, the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations, the City of Portland’s Small Business Advisory Committee, the City of Portland, and the Portland Development Commission have formed an implementation team to drive the change and deliver the results called for in the prosperity plan.

If you are interested in the plan, contact Brian Willms, the Alliance’s Director of Membership, at 503.552.6757.

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The City of Portland Small Business Advisory Council has developed an Economic Development statement that provides important guidance to these efforts.

Other useful links:
www.Businessinportland.org
www.portlandonline.com/bds
Portland Small Business Development Center