Small business owners in Danville form 'Small Business Task Force'
DANVILLE, Va. (WSET) -- More than 100 small business owners have joined a Facebook page titled "Danville Small Business Task Force."
Christie Wall is the owner of Grizzly's Hatchet House in Danville.
Wall started the group after she and other businesses were feeling the affects of the social distancing orders put into place by Governor Northam.
"I decided to get on the phone with the people that I knew could give me the right answer and kind of put all the information that was well-vetted into one source," said Wall.
The lack of business left Wall unable to afford the payroll. So she made the difficult decision to close.
Since creating the page, businesses from across the city and county have joined.
Tim Myers is the business operations manager at Ballad Brewing in Danville.
He joined the task force page to be able to ask questions and learn about the many financial options offered by the city and federal government.
"You can just jump in a comment on this page and be asked a little more specifically 'what are you experiencing?' from the person that's across the street or down the block from you," said Myers.
Kelvin Perry with the city of Danville department of Economic Development says there are financial options now available from the city for local business owners.
A loan program along with two grant programs are available to all businesses.
"These were just some small things that we thought we could do to help small businesses in our community," said Perry.
Myers and Wall will continue working with their neighboring business owners, even after things return to business-as-usual.
"The network and the group of people that we've put together is tremendously helpful to one another," said Myers, "That line of communication to economic development is something I'm sure we all hope will remain the same or continue to strengthen as we go on Covid-19 or otherwise."
For more information on the Danville Small Business Task Force, click here.
Click here, to learn about some of the opportunities available for business owners from the city of Danville.
