MIKE HAWKINS & DON FLOW: An opportunity to help small businesses that won't come twice

Amid Apple’s recent announcement regarding a new campus in the Research Triangle Park, it can be easy to forget that North Carolina is actually a state of small businesses. Close to 90% of all our state’s businesses employ fewer than 100 people, and newly created small businesses account for nearly all of North Carolina’s net job growth over the past decade.

Beyond that, small businesses often serve as the social bedrock of many communities, especially in the rural parts of our state. They provide employment as well as civic and charitable support, which are the underpinnings of any community’s sense of place.

However, we do not see this situation as catastrophic. Instead, we see it as a historic opportunity.

Approached correctly, and supported with significant federal and state relief funding, North Carolina can emerge from this pandemic with a healthy mix of businesses in all areas of our state.

Let us suggest two broad areas of opportunity:

As business owners, we know the financial challenges small businesses have in assisting employees with appropriate healthcare security. As civic leaders, we understand the importance of sound public policy in establishing and supporting broad healthcare structures for all North Carolinians.

Unfortunately, many working North Carolinians cannot realistically access those structures today. This has been a recurring theme in the Task Force’s interactions with small business owners across our state.

We have also clearly heard the obstacles small businesses face in accessing reliable and affordable broadband services. COVID-19 magnified these challenges, and the widening digital divide is arguably one of the greatest challenges North Carolina faces coming out of the pandemic.

We are gratified at the legislative response to our Task Force’s Plan; virtually all of its components are included in both the governor’s proposed budget and various bills and appropriation suggestions currently under consideration in the General Assembly.

Today, North Carolina stands in the crosswinds of opportunity and political will—and we encourage our policymakers to continue the push to expand broadband and close the health care coverage gap, two fiscally sound policy solutions that would strengthen our small business sector. These solutions are within our grasp at a unique moment in time, but we have to be bold enough to seize the opportunity while it’s here.