Small business recovery needed to drive larger recovery

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A new report from TD Economics says that the recession has hurt small businesses particularly hard, and says the creativity of small and medium businesses will likely be at the forefront of a recovery. It also notes that conditions for such a thing to be possible are beginning to take shape.


The report is called “Small and Medium Sized Businesses Key to U.S. Economic Recovery,” and it was written by TD Economist James Marple.

Job loss and loss of access to credit have been major obstacles for smaller businesses to overcome, according to the report, but the same group is also called a key to the recovery. Marple wrote that “economic growth over the longer-term is driven primarily by individuals taking risks and making sacrifices in order to bring innovative ideas to market.” He thinks resurgence in this class of businesses could add 6 million jobs to the economy by the end of 2011.

He added, “The Great Recession was not kind to small businesses in America. Small and medium-sized businesses suffered a disproportionate share of the job losses and many still have difficulty accessing credit from some lenders. Fortunately, things are beginning to look up.”

TD Bank, a partner of TD Economics, produced a study earlier this year indicating that many of these businesses are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. 87% expect to level off or improve 2010 over 2009, with 36% expecting growth this year.

RBR-TVBR observation: If your station is sitting on excess inventory, perhaps it would be wise to invest in some of the small entrepreneurs trying to make a go of it in your market. Offer sweetheart rates now to jumpstart the new enterprise, with a contract calling for an ongoing relationship at normal rates should the business take hold.

If it does take hold, no doubt the advertising time provided by your station will be a major factor. It should not be a hard sell to keep the client, even without requiring an ongoing relationship by contractual obligation. You may well have earned a long-term at birth.