The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce is looking after your interests. The idea for a series of forums came out of a meeting last week between state Rep. Tim Wilkes, the small-business chamber's new chairman, and Gov. Jim Hodges. The new chamber would sponsor the forums and small-business people would be invited to come and talk about their problems in dealing with state agencies. The governor's office would co-host the forums.
Small business is anything but small in South Carolina.
More than 98.5 percent of the businesses in South Carolina are considered small businesses, according to John Lenti, Small Business Development Center state director. In reality, Lenti says, only 4,500 businesses in the state have more than 100 workers, and that is out of a population of about 100,000 businesses. The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce has been formed to address the concerns of that myriad group of small businesses. Wilkes, who is a small-business man himself, said he found the governor understands small business and some of its problems and is willing to address them. The governor already has a task force meeting to try to find ways to make it easier for small businesses to deal with state agencies and the problems of obtaining various permits.