Economic development offices are positioned to help small businesses

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In this technology-based world that we live in featuring virtual assistants, social media and artificial intelligence, Harford County’s Office of Community and Economic Development decided last year to get the word out about their services in a low-tech way.

They knocked on businesses’ doors.

“A lot of people don’t know of all the programs we have to offer,” said director Len Parrish. “We try as best we can to get our story out there and to tell everybody what we have to offer but the most success that we have seen is actually having our business developers go knock on the door of current businesses and say ‘How can we help you?’

“To be quite honest, small businesses — their focus is making their paycheck and making money. They don’t have time to go out and sit through seminars and learn about all this other stuff because they need to be working,” Parrish said. “Our team going into their office and saying ‘Here is what we have to offer. We will come to you. We will help you,’ made a big difference.”

Aberdeen Proving Ground is the county’s largest employer but Parrish estimates small businesses make up about 90 percent of the workforce. The office assists businesses for free through their small business center in Havre de Grace and staff who can help navigate and assist with site selection, permit assistance, finance programming, tax incentives and many other business needs.

Training opportunities through the economic development office have been a hit with local businesses.

“I think a lot of times it is difficult to find the money and find the time to train your employees as a small business,” Parrish said. “That is something we can step in with either helping with the financial cost with training” or through partnerships with Harford Community College.

Baltimore County has an estimated 21,000 businesses with a majority that are considered small businesses.

“These are businesses that are doing the work and often don’t have time to work on their business besides working in their business,” said Will Anderson, director for the county’s Department of Workforce and Economic Development. “I think that’s where our economic development efforts come in.”

The county’s Small Business Resource Center offers a number of free functions including help with revenue projections, an operations plan and a competitive landscape plan.

“People will start businesses and know that they need some of these details but they may not necessarily think they need the advice of somebody to help formulate it,” Anderson said.

The center also offers counselors and provide connections to other advisors businesses may need such as legal resources and accounting.

“One thing we provide that I think every business needs to get is get good, credible advice from independent advisors that do not have a stake in what you are doing,” Anderson said. “… (The counselors discuss) things that people don’t tend to think about until they need them.”

The main aspect people come to economic development to discuss is money, according to Anderson.

“They are generally looking for grants of which there are very few grant programs out there these days from the public sector side,” he said. “But what you will find at our Small Business Resource Center is they will connect people to the right types of financing.”

One is their Boost Fund geared toward small businesses that may not have a great credit rating or can not afford a high rate of interest. Funded through profits from video lottery terminals, it provides a low interest rate with a reduced down payment.

They also offer a small business loan program through their area banking partners.

“A couple of dozen banks in the area will make small business loans and the county participates as a backstop to those loans to help underwrite loans that would not be made otherwise,” Anderson said. “That is a great resource that these banks are willing to lend on smaller projects to get businesses going and hopefully start a relationship with businesses as they grow they will stay within their bank.”

The department also does workshops at area libraries to get the word out about their services. “Very often (at a library) is where you are going to find an entrepreneur,” Anderson said. “If they are not working in their business, they might be in the library trying to find resources but they very often don’t know that the Small Business Resource Center is right here on Pennsylvania Ave inside our Baltimore County chamber office” in Towson.