Forward Observer: Thinking of Starting or Improving Your Own Business?
There are 28 million small businesses in the United States according to the Small Business Administration, an amazing 99.7 percent of all the employers. Small businesses employ over 56 million people in this country, about 57 percent of all the employment in the private sector. Think about that. They certainly are an important component to ensuring a thriving economy. Throughout our history, small businesses have helped to secure the “American Dream.” Importantly, they rely heavily on workers for their success, not on some “robotic arm.”
In that vein of thinking, Pennsylvania is gradually getting around to the addressing the issues of generating veterans businesses in the Commonwealth. It is welcomed news for those veterans interested in being a business owner; and for the community in which he or she lives, as implied above. Unfortunately, most of the veterans efforts heretofore have been generated through legislators without much thought to a much more basic problem: proper assistance and encouragement. That may be changing.
Recently, the commonwealth’s Department of Economic Development has put effort into something called, “Pennsylvania Business One-Stop Shop.” It is high time. And while its website might currently fall short in specifically addressing veterans-business or veterans-hiring “bennies” created by our legislators, there is much more to starting or maintaining a business. Fortunately, the best part is the one-stop initiative is that it is not entirely dependent upon website text and snazzy, scrolling pictures as is often done nowadays for these sort of initiatives. There are actually people on the other end of One-Stop Shop with whom to speak, after getting through the inevitable phone tree which the invisible hand of big business commerce has foisted upon us. This tree is not so bad (… ever try Verizon’s or PPL’s?). Make certain that you identify yourself as a veteran at some point. Click on the brochure to the right to learn more on how this effort can benefit veterans seeking to start or maintain a business.
[Editor’s Update: Information specifically for veterans can be found under http://business.pa.gov/grow.html –>Small Diverse Business Resources and, also, Small Diverse Businesses.]
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RJH
17 March 2018
Updated: 19 March 2018