 Good morning. Hey, this is a beautiful day in Columbia now. You can do better than that. Good morning. Hey, great great great. Of course, this is Columbia's kickoff of Small Business Week and Small Business Week, I believe is a brainchild of the U.S. Small Business Administration and it is an event where small businesses are celebrated We have you look up and down Main Street and I see a business like this and other businesses up and down Main Street, and you know, we have a vibrant Small Business community in Columbia. So thank so all the small businesses that make Columbia what it is I want to acknowledge our sponsor and that's Blue Cross Blue Shield for sponsoring the chambers the Columbia Chambers Small Business Council They have been a partner with us and they believe in small businesses just like the chamber believes in small businesses So thanks to Blue Cross Blue Shield Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. Economy Small Business Week casts a spotlight on small businesses so that we won't forget that small businesses Mean that we are growing when you see them springing up everywhere We are growing and when a community has small businesses going up unique businesses Such as the one that we're in front of right now When you see businesses like this springing up, you know that the community is a vibrant strong energetic community small business owners are innovators their creators and They lay the found foundation for others who believe that they could make Life for themselves and for their community Before I say anymore, I'd like to welcome the CEO of the Columbia Chamber Carl Blackstone to give us some more information on small businesses in Columbia Carl Thank you very much and good morning We have a tradition of this week of working with and teaming up with Richland County and the City of Columbia To celebrate Small Business Week and so we we thank you the city and the county for your participation and partner with us But we just don't do it this year. We do it all year We're committed to making Columbia a better place to do business the three entities have been working for the last four or five years on Creating an environment we call it a business-friendly task force of creating more opportunity for business to Lower the thresholds of doing business to create a better opportunity to do business in Columbia and so we appreciate their partnership This week is the one that we highlight small businesses, but they're here all year long working and serving this community Take uptown on Maine Martha Studsdale has been here for over 10 years on Main Street And this is a great business to highlight today because if y'all remember Main Street didn't look so good as It does today does it to make it The city and the county put a lot of money on Main Street and it invested a ton and and it shows the pay office here And Martha's been here for 10 years in the same location and has done a tremendous job And we have others that are working every day to bring more businesses to downtown as well as across the county in the city Small businesses as is mentioned are the backbone of this community We need to do a better job of making sure that we create an environment where they can grow flourish have access to capital But that takes a village and so it's important that we continue to invest It's important that we continue to recognize those that are trying to make improvements into this community So this is the week to do that that we celebrate what Main Street is doing What all parts of this community is doing so Let me introduce if I can David Lockwood chair. He's with Collier's International, but chair of the chamber board of trustees board directors Good morning. Thank you very much Carl and good morning to everyone and I too want to thank Richland County and the city of Columbia for the kickoff of small business week No better setting than right here on Main Street in Columbia to do that. Did you know that every year since 1963 of we have celebrated small business week nationally and small business week recognizes the contributions of the Entrepreneurs and small business owners in our community Columbia, South Carolina and Main Street in particular is a positive setting for small businesses The work that we do at the Columbia Chamber is focused on making the business environment one in which our entrepreneurs and small business Can thrive in the Midlands of South Carolina an incredibly large number of employees Throughout the Midlands the city of Columbia Lexington County in Richland County are small business owners or are employed by small businesses From retail establishments on Main Street to the doctors offices to many other professional offices and retailers throughout the Midlands Small business owners represent a large portion of our employment workforce Small businesses also contribute mightily to the taxes that support our schools and the infrastructure in our community in short entrepreneurs who start small business Businesses enrich our communities and make us a better place to live and work Our neighborhoods are better. Our business community is better Our overall vibrancy of the city is so much better with small Businesses and today we applaud all small businesses and the entrepreneurs who start them Who own them and run them to have a successful community? It's now my great great pleasure to introduce to you to Mika Isaac design in the city of Columbia What a great city we live in. I'm just so thankful to have her here today Thank You David and is indeed my honor and privilege to be here as mayor pro tem for the city of Columbia It is it is my honor to recognize small business week We as the city of Columbia have been recognizing a small business week for many years We have an amazing office of business opportunities led by miss Melissa Lindler And the great staff that's here. And so we are honored to be a part of this Proclamation and recognition of this day So on behalf of the mayor Stephen K. Benjamin and members of Columbia City Council in our city manager It is my honor to read a proclamation Whereas small business week is a significant moment in the year to salute our small businesses for the countless contributions made to our community and Whereas small businesses are the heart of every city preserving traditional values while providing new ideas new jobs and increased sustainability and Whereas small businesses represent a tradition of hard-working Dedicated individuals living the American dream of providing for their families creating job opportunities for their neighbors and making invaluable Contributions to their community and whereas small businesses are a vibrant and vital segment of our local economy and a huge Economic force throughout the nation and whereas there are more than 16,000 small businesses many of them minority-owned and operated in the city of Columbia and throughout Richland County that employed between 1 to 49 people each and whereas residents of our community and Community and communities across the nation are being asked to support small businesses and merchants during small business week and throughout the year and Whereas the city of Columbia and the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce and Richland County Recognize the value of small businesses within the community and their prices contributions to the world to this world-class city Now therefore on behalf of our mayor Stephen K. Benjamin and along with all the members of Columbia City Council We do hereby proclaim April 29th may through May 5th 2018 as small business week in the Great City of Columbia and we urge all of our citizens to recognize and Participate in its observance. And so if I could ask Carl and Martha enjoys to join me For this preclamation So now it is indeed my honor and privilege to introduce my friend And my sister The chairwoman of County Council Joyce Dickerson Good morning Well, you all know that on mornings I am functioning before 10 o'clock everybody know I really don't function before 10 o'clock But I am functioning and I thank you for the opportunity and therefore on behalf of Richland County And our members and I'm Joyce Dickerson and I serve district too But I serve all of Richland County and I am so happy and honored to be joining the Chamber and the City of Columbia my best sister behind me because we have forged a partnership that is long lasting To make sure that Richland County and the City of Columbia thrive One of the things we are so very proud of is the fact that we know that small businesses are the The drum core it is the heartbeat of America and if for those of you who do not understand That it is the small businesses that make America strong We are making America strong because we invest and we don't have a problem Investing in small businesses to make sure that you are very vibrant that you are alive And we want to make sure that you employ people that is the main goal of everything because Making sure that we have a vibrant community with people working We want jobs and small businesses create more jobs across America than Wall Street. I'm thinking We are now on main street So we want to make sure that main streets across America continue to thrive and to grow and to grow small businesses Therefore Richland County joining with the City of Columbia do not have a problem Making sure that we join and be a be a part of this festive Festivity week for you all this week because we will be doing a proclamation My my clerk says she would get that done for me because you're going to be celebrating all week And because of that we will make sure that you'll get a proclamation from Richland County as well But I want to say on behalf of Richland County and the staff who work so very hard to make sure that main streets Not only in Columbia, but across America are strong Vibrant and alive and with that I say hallelujah. Thank you for main street businesses across America Thank you And good morning. I'm Ron Harvey. I'm the chair for the small business council at the chamber And also a small business owner here in Columbia, South Carolina And so I want to say thank you to everyone that's coming out, especially people have spoken about, you know, Columbia I want to say thank you to all the small business owners As I had an opportunity to talk to Martha before we started I asked her what really helped her get started in small business And so I think small business owners resonate with this We either start because we see a need in our community that we can solve a problem for people Or we start because there's a fear of something and so as I talked to Martha She was fearful about when things were winding down that her husband was going to send her back to work And so she found her own job. Um, and so thank you for that 10 years 10 years ago Going on 10 years that Martha started this uptown gifts on main street And so thank you for what you're doing for the community. Thank you for adding value to our community Thank you to all of the people that continue to make sure that the small business owners have a spot in this city And so we make up 80 of what's happening. We drive revenue So what I will tell small business owners is no matter what's happening in your business stay connected Build relationships stay local start local Spend money local support local and take care of our community Getting back to the heart of the community is super super important We got to work together regardless of where we live at throughout the city of columbia We all have to support one another and so as a small business owner I understand that and I'm working tremendously hard as a volunteer in the chamber Most people think I work for the chamber as an employee. I don't so let's make sure that's caught on tape I'm a volunteer and I'm passionate about us being successful as business owners And so that's my passion. That's my drive and that's why I do what I do I don't want to see a small business closed down because we did not support them Whether it's from big banks whether it's from you as a as a business owner or a citizen of this community We have to do the right thing to take care of our community. That's what america is about And so we want to make sure that columbia is doing the same thing So I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the chamber and ask martha if she would step up with me briefly And we have a certificate of appreciation For small business week of 2018 presented to uptown on main street And this is on behalf of the chamber the small business council and everyone that's here So martha, thank you for 10 years of adding value to columbia. We truly appreciate you. We love you and we'll support you to stay in business I'm martha stud still and I own up tamo main and as Others have said this october will celebrate 10 years in business and there's been a lot of help from the chamber From city columbia from richland county. I thank all of them for being here But also from city center partnership um As I started thinking about where to open a business I explored main street. I had an affinity for main street But it just so happened one morning. I opened the newspaper and city center partnership had hired a retail And I took that as a sign that main street was on its way up When I opened in 2008 the 1221 building was just coming out of the ground The britain building was about to fall down and now we have a wonderful Two residents the blue flower garden so main street has has grown tremendously in my time here And um, we've enjoyed watching the growth. It's been a lot of fun I'll encourage you all just to to think local to that's the way small business survives We need people to shop with us to eat at the restaurants to to do business With those in the community. So we appreciate you coming today and thank you so much Again, we just thank y'all very much for coming. Um, Madam chair, thank you very much Councilwoman, thank you very much for and martha. Thank you for having us Um, I also want to introduce greg white with the small business administration greg Thank you for what you do day in day out to support businesses in the state So, uh, again, thank y'all for being here. We encourage you to come inside Look around martha got great gifts mother stays around the corner. So, uh, Thank y'all y'all have a great day