by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
It seems to be an elementary task, but defining Jacksonville’s small businesses is proving to be as tricky a task for the JEDC as it has been for the mayor and City Council.
Mayor John Peyton wants to define them by assets for his small business plan. Wednesday, an advisory committee to the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission tentatively decided to divide businesses by the size of their workforces. Both approaches have drawn criticism, underscoring the difficult decisions faced by City when it decides who will be included in its programs and who will be left out.
The Small Business Advisory Committee briefly considered using Peyton’s proposed threshold. Peyton wants to limit City contract work set aside for small businesses to firms with assets of less than $450,000, including the owner’s home. But some on the committee argued that number was too restrictive. It’s the same complaint the City Council has repeatedly heard as it considers the mayor’s plan.
The committee grudgingly agreed to use the Small Business Association’s definition, which terms “small” any business with fewer than 100 employees. Committee chair Susan Hartley stressed that the definition was preliminary and said it could change as the JEDC continues its self evaluation. The JEDC will consider the committee’s recommendation when it decides where to spend its small business incentives. JEDC executive director Kirk Wendland said the definition would “allow businesses to qualify for funds set aside for small business programs.”
Several committee members feared that the definition could be too broad. Janice Donaldson, the regional director of University of North Florida’s Small Business Development Center, said the SBA definition included “about 98 percent” of area companies.
Committee member, Calvin Burney, president of Transportation Planning Group, said he thought the SBA threshold was too high. He said it would force truly small businesses to compete with relatively large firms for JEDC incentives. According to the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, businesses with less than 20 employees create more than 80 percent of local jobs.
“If you lump together what I would consider big businesses together with the small, then the ability of small businesses to compete is going to be severely lessened,” said Burney.
Committee member Richard Clark asked if the SBA definition would unreasonably increase the volume of small business incentive packages considered by the JEDC.
“Did we just bury the JEDC with twice as many projects,” he said.
Wendland said he didn’t think that would be a problem. He said using an asset limit would be more likely to tie up his staff. He said he didn’t want his staff appraising homes and digging through credit card debt to verify applicants’ worth.
“If we end up with two-hour debates on every package about whether a business is small or not, it defeats the purpose of what we’re trying to do here,” he said.
Even if the JEDC adopts the hundred-person limit, Wendland said several programs would likely be made available to cater to businesses of different sizes.