Small Businesses

Reversing Downtown Decline In A Small South Dakota Town

May 6, 2026 Bart Pfankuch, Next City. Create! Local Economy, Small Businesses, South Dakota, Urban Design

This small eastern South Dakota town is well known for its deep agricultural roots, its popular Fourth of July celebration and its regionally famous bakery specializing in bi-colored “zebra donuts.” But now, Centerville has a new claim to fame: The town of about 900 people located 40 miles southwest of Sioux Falls has become known as a statewide leader in downtown redevelopment. The successful effort to buck the trend of declining Main Street districts in small South Dakota towns has been fueled in part by a progressive approach to development by local leaders and a sense of entrepreneurship by local business owners.

Building A National Movement To Protect Small Businesses From Displacement

December 8, 2025 Eliana Perozo, Next City. Organize! Displacement, Gentrification, Small Businesses, Urban Design

Willow Lung doesn’t come from a background in finance or business. She’s a scholar and professor focused on gentrification, social inequality and urban development. But five years ago, near the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, she founded the Small Business Anti- Displacement Network (SBAN) at the University of Maryland, a member-based national network dedicated to helping small businesses survive and thrive as their neighborhoods change. Since then, SBAN has amassed 180 members and counting. “We have a lot of attention paid to housing issues and gentrifying neighborhoods and affordable housing policies, but we don’t have an equitable amount of attention, resources and policymaking around issues of commercial gentrification,” says Lung.

Turning A Neglected State Roadway Into An Economic Engine

April 12, 2025 Ilana Preuss, Next City. Create! Local Economy, Manufacturing, Missouri, Small Businesses, Urban Design

Business Loop 70 looks like many American roads as it cuts through Columbia, Missouri. Four lanes of traffic; some sections with sidewalks, others without; a car dealership with a sea of available cars; an old single-floor mall set behind rows of parking, and an old brick smoke stack from a long-forgotten power plant. Yet that one-and-a-half-mile stretch of state highway contains a model of innovation for the nation. Every day, Carrie Gartner parks in front of a small storefront and steps into the offices of the Loop Community Improvement District, where for the past decade she’s been working to achieve the seemingly impossible: turning a random collection of properties along a state highway into a destination for families and entrepreneurs.

Removing Obstacles For Small-Scale Manufacturers In Boston

February 13, 2025 Ilana Preuss, Next City. Create! Boston, Manufacturing, Massachusetts, Small Businesses

Jen Faigel stood in the production line watching a rush of mini-pies bake to a golden brown. Around her, 10 people stood at different spots, each responsible for a different process: pouring in the apple and blueberry filling, sprinkling a generous helping of crumb topping, sliding the pies in to bake, pulling pies off the cooling rack and into custom-designed packaging. After seven days of baking, it smelled like her grandma’s kitchen. Teresa Maynard, owner of Sweet Teez Bakery, and her team were busy filling the largest single order they had ever received: 42,000 pies, going to 25 Whole Foods stores.

The Arts Organization Helping Transform Appalachia’s Craft Economy

January 13, 2025 Kristi Eaton, Resilience. Create! Appalachia, Arts, Hurricane Helene, Kentucky, Small Businesses

Makers United supports historically marginalized makers in the craft economy by removing the barriers to accessing business development resources and e-commerce opportunities they need to grow their small businesses. In 2023, that commitment led Nest to expand Makers United to Appalachia, starting with 54 counties in eastern Kentucky, where they identified not only the need for economic investment but recognized the potential for growth in the craft sector, especially in rural and digitally disconnected communities. As a result, the program delivers one-of-a-kind support by working with local and regional efforts to improve makers’ e-commerce readiness and enhance their business’ e-commerce performance to help folk artists market and distribute their work.

One-Stop Shops Can Change The Game For City’s Small Business Growth

July 22, 2023 Nia Richardson, Next City. Create! Finance and the Economy, Local Investment, Missouri, Small Businesses

In February, researchers at the Institute for Justice published a study analyzing barriers to starting small businesses. “Too often, entrepreneurs struggle with local regulatory burdens, finding themselves trapped by high fees, long wait times, and complex paperwork,” the report begins. “These burdens amount to a death by a thousand cuts, unless aspiring business owners can successfully navigate them before reaching opening day.” The study analyzed the steps required to open a business in 20 large and mid-sized U.S. cities, and their findings were stunning. Opening a restaurant in Boston involves a staggering 92-step process. In Detroit, it’s 77 steps. In Atlanta, it’s 76.

Public Banking Efforts Are Gaining Momentum In California

July 2, 2023 Oscar Perry Abello, Next City. Create! California, Finance, Public Banks, Small Businesses

Prince Osemwengie has been looking into every tool in the toolbox to help stem the tide of local businesses being displaced due to rising rents and rising property values in South Los Angeles: Technical assistance and legal aid for small business owners, commercial rent subsidies, tax credits for small business oriented economic development, community ownership of commercial real estate, and all the above. But with the financial system so tilted against local businesses, especially Black- and Brown-owned businesses, he believes the time has come for a more drastic solution: L.A.’s first city-owned bank. And with a recent city council vote, that solution is one step closer.

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