An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The Tri-State grew in the first half of the 20th Century with many large manufacturers.
Coal was a big part of the regional economy, of course, but plants in our region also cranked out automobile bumpers, glass bottles, railcars, steel and nickel.
So, it is not surprising that when we think about job growth, we often think about big companies and big operations. But landing the next Toyota plant is no easy task, and it is crucial that communities focus on nurturing small business as well.
In fact, small businesses — defined as those with 500 employees or less — account for about 50 percent of the private sector employment in the United States and about 63 percent of the new private sector jobs, according to the Small Business Administration. And many of those businesses are very small, with the census reporting almost 4 million businesses in the United States with less than 10 employees.
But entrepreneurs can face a lot of obstacles in getting those small businesses started, and we applaud the City of Huntington’s new initiative to provide a helping hand…
