Carter Atherton
A gigantic help for small businesses
New River Valley Homegrown started a small business initiative in 2019 to help companies in the 11 counties of southwest Virginia prosper and grow economically. Since 2019, the initiative has grown largely, now having partnered with 400 local businesses.
The partnership allows the small businesses to gain exposure while the businesses give discounts and sales to certain products or services that they offer. Participating businesses span from a beauty service like a tanning booth such as Tan N Tone, to ice cream shops such as Sugar Magnolia.
Carter Atherton
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April 13, 2022
The initiative is that a consumer can buy a $20 ‘Go Local’ card from one of 60 locations that allows them to get the discounts at the participating businesses. The money from the cards go to supporting the initiative.
The NRV is a tight knit community and locals feel as if they are responsible for serving it well. Lea Wall, the co-founder of NRV Homegrown, expressed that “[her] relatives have been [in the NRV] for a long time and [she feels] like [she] just needs to help the community.”
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Though it has grown greatly, she wants to reach another crowd to continue the positive trend. “The heart and soul of our program are students,” Wall continued to say. The co-founder added, “my focus is getting the schools [and their students] on board to keep the funding coming in.”
The initiative is starting to gain traction in the New River Valley, and hopefully with more involvement and funding, it will grow larger than the founders thought it would become. The next few years should be exciting for the initiative.
Wall put into perspective just how greatly the organization has grown. “Back in 2019 in Blacksburg, we had [about] 50 to 100 [companies.] From [2020] to [2021] we grew 150 businesses and from [2021] to [2022] we grew 100 businesses… we will continue to grow.”
The infographic gives insight on small businesses in Virginia. It portrays how much small businesses affect the economy.
BLACKSBURG, Va. April 12, 2022: No Ceiling- Small business is a driving force in the NRV Economy
According to Washington University, small businesses went up 21% in 2020. Also, small business accounts for 44% of U.S. economic activity according to the MIT Sloane School of Management. Because of those statistics, the initiative is crucial to the NRV.
A local initiative is helping the New River Valley economy by creating a joint force of small businesses to help support each other.
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