There’s a group of folks locally who have gotten together for a bridal fair coming up in March. At the risk of leaving someone out — and if I do, I apologize — some of those involved include F. Rees, F. Rees Ladies, Video Works, B&L Jewelers, Scarlet Begonias, Shutterbug Photography, Froo Froo Pet Boutique, Old North State Winery, 308 Bistro and The Mount Airy News, as well as the Downtown Business Association.
The fact that some folks are having a bridal festival is not, on the surface, any big deal. What I find fascinating about this is that these people are all small business owners and managers and they are no doubt struggling some with the weak economy, just as most businesses are.
Rather than complain or look for some sort of government bail-out, they are taking a proactive stand, figuring out what is missing from this market, how they can fill that void, and then pulling in other businesses that can compliment what they do.
They’re working hard to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, bring in new customers and breath just a little bit of new life into the local economy.
They are showing what entrepreneurs and business leaders do — they step up and figure out ways to overcome obstacles.
None of these businesses are big. If each one of them were to double their employee rolls in the next week, it would probably make little difference in the area jobless rate. But, what they are doing shows a spirit of inventiveness, a willingness to go outside their normal daily comfort zones.
In so doing, they help the local economy in two ways. First, the dollars and cents. If their businesses remain healthy, the business owners, managers and their employees have work. They have income. They have money to spend at other local businesses. That, in turn, helps those other establishments, and their employees, do the same, which helps still more local firms. When small local firms do well, there is a trickle-down, or trickle-up, or trickle-out, effect in the local economy.
Second, they help in more intangible ways. When two or three businesses get together and do something on a larger scale, when they invite other establishments and organizations to take part, that helps build a certain atmosphere in town. A team spirit among business owners, and an aura of success and innovation. That sort of thing can be infectious.
For some reason, it seems in recent months a number of individuals have been critical of the downtown area of Mount Airy, or small businesses along Main Street, or toward local efforts to attract tourism.
That’s puzzling because in the end the local economy will rise or fall on the local business owners, the entrepreneurs who take chances and find ways to thrive even in difficult times.
A few months ago we carried an article that related how one national magazine had put Mount Airy on its list of most financially vulnerable cities in America — although the magazine, best I could tell, never actually said what the city was vulnerable to.
My suspicion is that if more area businesses, and local residents, took the attitude that “we’re going to keep plugging along until we find something that works,” as these business owners organizing the bridal fair are doing, Mount Airy might find itself on a few national lists of towns that have emerged from the recession as a vibrant, successful community.
John Peters is editor of The Mount Airy News. He can be reached at 719-1931, or at jpeters@mtairynews.com.
Post a Comment
