Others seem to be getting it.

Post found from lower MD paper on local job growth. Sounds like they were in our board meeting:

Creating jobs locally
The topic of the county’s annual economic development’s summit last week was “Harvest Our Own: Cultivating Growth and Job Creation From Within.” A development expert told those in attendance that government should spend less time in today’s economic environment trying to entice major corporations to come to town and instead spend more time supporting the businesses that are already here. Local consumers can offer the same kind of support by buying local whenever they can.

Many of the summit’s topics centered on and offered help for small businesses. The agenda featured sessions that offered good advice to small business owners and tips for survival in a down economy. That was a good start. But there are many resources currently available in Charles County that those considering opening a business or the new entrepreneur can readily take advantage of.

For starters, at the College of Southern Maryland, the Small Business Development Center can offer assistance to those considering starting a business. The professionals there can offer tips on how to get money, how to write a business plan and what kinds of skills you need, for example. The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland has a workforce and business development office and programs available.

The business calendar in today’s paper on page B-7 lists nearly a dozen local organizations and networking groups that can offer invaluable help for anyone in business or starting a business. From the Charles County Chamber of Commerce to the technology council there are offers of networking events. In Wednesday’s edition, there was news of a Business Alliance of Charles County that is forming to provide legislative advocacy and community service opportunities and, of course, more networking events. There are plenty of people in the business community who are willing to share their expertise.

According to the Small Business Administration, 50 percent of small businesses fail in the first five years. Experts blame that statistic on several issues, some of them being that people who start their own business lack the experience and have insufficient capital to run their enterprises, conducted inadequate research, chose the wrong locations and often failed to ask for help when the going got tough.

It is a challenging time for those thinking of taking the first step into the business world as well as those who are already doing business here. The summit chose a great topic. No Fortune 500 company is coming to the county anytime soon, so the county’s economic development will have to depend on small businesses to create new jobs. The good news is that Charles County has resources to offer and most of them are relatively inexpensive to access.
ound the story below in my blog reading today. It sounds like they recorded one of our planning sessions and uses it at tgeir meeting. It is not about hunting buffalo, it is about building on and supporting the businesses in our community. Maybe if enough of us sound the charge we can make a difference: