Savannah’s city government longs for an “economically thriving” community and is working to become more “efficient” in meeting small business needs, the city’s business development director told the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council on Tuesday.
“The perception is that government is in the way,” Rob Davis said. “We don’t intend to be an impediment. We are here to be a facilitator.”
Changing the public perception has been a priority for Davis since he joined the city staff last year. Several managers in the city’s business services arm, including leaders in the revenue and development service departments and the Savannah Entrepreneurial Center, joined Davis at the council’s monthly SMART lunch and networked with attendees afterward.
“We know the process of opening or expanding a business can be confusing, time consuming and expensive,” Davis said. “We are trying to improve and make things better.”
The president of the Small Business Council, Joe Marchese, encouraged members to support the city’s efforts and to take advantage of those resources.
“The time to dig your well is not when you are thirsty,” Marchese said.
Davis was one of three speakers at Tuesday’s luncheon, which was the second installment of the council’s “Small Business Resources” series.
The head of the Coastal Area District Development Authority (CADDA) highlighted the Small Business Administration loan products offered by his organization, which is one of two SBA loan facilitators in the Savannah area.
“We’re a partner to the business owner or potential business owner and also a partner to the banking industry,” said CADDA’s Andrew Standard.
The area director for the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a business consulting group, outlined his services. The SBDC has 17 offices in the state, and the Savannah location consulted directly with 3,757 clients in 2012 and did an additional 316 programs, the SBDC’s Kyle Hensel said.
“I get to help everyone in this room with their business and make it better,” Hensel said.
