New Small Business Organization Meets with Councilmember Marc Erlich
Members of the Growing Business Circle (GBC) met with Councilmember Marc Erlich on July 6 in Silver Spring, MD to discuss opportunities for civic engagement within the small—and growing—business community in Montgomery County.
The session was organized and moderated by Gabe Hamda, president and CEO, ICATT Consulting, co-founder of Access Business Team and co-founder of 21st Century Community and Houri Tamizifar, President and CEO of Cynuria Consulting and founder of the Women’s Entrepreneur Forum.
“The theme of our work together is to increase small business win participation in Montgomery County contracts and grants, which translates into an increase of well-paying local jobs and local economic growth,” stated Houri Tamizifar.
"And the cheapest way to create jobs and grow the local economy is to enable small businesses win more contracts and grants," echoed Gabe Hamda.
Leaders from local companies gathered for a structured, yet creative session. GBC members addressed both specific support needs for small businesses and ideas on how their own work can improve the quality of life and health of the economy in the area. Collectively, small businesses make up 95% of the business community in Montgomery County, many of which minorities and women. As a group, they want to be recognized for this influence.
Prior to the meeting, members of GBC participated in a survey in order to prioritize and consolidate their common needs and opportunities. Together, they proposed a list of meaningful, actionable items to achieve their goals. GBC’s requests included: better communication and outreach to small businesses for contracting and grant opportunities; incentives to connect well-established businesses to small new businesses for guidance and collaboration; an alternative membership organization to the Chambers of Commerce, which is financially out of reach for most small business; and an increase in set-aside percentages to be competitive with the D.C. market.
One member also pointed out the larger tax burden on small businesses than on corporations—the latter receiving considerably higher tax breaks than the small shop owners who file their business revenues as personal income. Personal income tax and property tax in Maryland are some of the highest rates in the nation.
Councilmember Erlich addressed the group with earnest words of validation, emphasizing the need to support growing businesses and bring in more, “We’ll be a much better community when these buildings are occupied and the storefronts are occupied, and people are busy at work,” he said, adding “That’s something we’ve got to be really serious about.”
GBC officially thanked Councilmember Erlich for his time and genuine interest and attention to the small business community, "We are very grateful to you and the community you represent and so excited to be able to meet and discuss with you on the opportunities open to small businesses like ours." The group also emphasized the need for more attention from the council, "[We] think what the councilmember is doing today should continue. Continuing the conversation with small businesses is the only way our community leaders can learn about our pain points and continue to help us grow."