Brownwood News – The Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce held its monthly luncheon Friday and was addressed by Bill Leaverton, of the Small Business Development Center.  Leaverton is Regional Director of the SBDC office based at Tarleton University in Stephenville, and is responsible for ten surrounding counties.

Leaverton spoke to the audience about how small business has been affected during the COVID pandemic.  Business has been deterred, but not stopped, he said.  The federal government provided some relief with the PPP loans (Paycheck Protection Program) and EIDL loans (Economic Injury Disaster Loan).  Leaverton saluted community banks for shouldering the load in smaller cities on those programs.

Small business owners, according to Leaverton, are very resiliant:  “A small business owner, by definition, is someone who has to swim upstream and fight against the current of large business.  I think the special breed of person who goes into business for himself is someone who is used to adversity, and thrives in the face of it.”

Leaverton encouraged small business to add online marketing, such as Facebook Live and Constant Contact, to their marketing campaigns.

The pandemic has caused somewhat of a role reversal between large cities and small towns, and he is seeing signs that, for the first time, small towns have an advantage.  Leaverton said many people are moving out of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area to smaller towns like Springtown, Decatur, and Weatherford.  Also, people are moving from California to Texas, sometimes buying a home online, without seeing it in person.  While growth is welcomed in the small towns, rapid growth can strain city infrastructure and school systems.

“We as small towns have an advantage,” Leaverton said.  “The idea that we are a community, and people who live in these communities understand that we need each other.”  He encouraged small towns to stick together, and do what it takes to survive in these times.  Help is available from banks, Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development Corporations, and the Small Business Administration.

For more information from Mr. Leaverton and the Small Business Development Center, contact him at:  [email protected], or 254-968-0558.

The presenting sponsor for the luncheon was Abilene Regional Airport.  Additional sponsors were F & M Bank and Redstone Retirement Village.