PORTSMOUTH, Va. — At Portsmouth's State of the City last month, Mayor Shannon Glover announced that nearly 750 new businesses were established in Portsmouth last year, and he said the city was positioned to become the "region's small business capital."
Wednesday, groups of small business owners, local entrepreneurs, and vendors —all eager to learn about building a business and navigating city contracts— flocked to Portsmouth's Tidewater Community College campus. They were there for the "How to Do Business" event, put on by the Portsmouth Department of Economic Development and the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity.
"You get to have these conversations on the how-tos," said Chandler Chase, One Signature Developments.
Chase attended the event to network and learn as he builds his real estate development business. Like many others, he hopes to shape his business's future in Portsmouth.
"Portsmouth is a hidden gem. I'm seeing those signs that are saying, 'hey, this is the up-and-coming city,'" said Chase.
It's been the Portsmouth Department of Economic Development's mission to help others see Portsmouth as an "up-and-coming city" too.
"We hosted this event to educate people on how to become vendors, how to get into that contracting field and how to navigate the system," explained Autumn Bailey, senior business development specialist for Portsmouth Economic Development.
She added that the inaugural "How to Do Business" event was launched last year in response to a study highlighting the lack of minority participation and contractors in Portsmouth. That's an area organizers and the city want to keep improving on.
This year, Bailey said the event was fully booked, allowing more people to receive advice and information.
"It's about building relationships," explained Joy Wansley, Bloom community manager.
Wansley and Gene Granger, who attended the event to provide guidance to business newcomers, run co-working spaces through Bloom and IncuHub respectively. They're glad to be a part of that business growth in Portsmouth.
"The overwhelming majority of businesses, not just in Portsmouth but in the United States, are small businesses. So these are really the people who are going out and delivering the everyday services that people need. They're paying taxes to the city, and they really create a robust infrastructure for businesses in the city," said Gene Granger, managing director of IncuHub. "So it's really important to the economic vitality of the city that we have a strong small business climate."
Some of the business owners told News 3 they looked to Portsmouth in the first place because of the citywide support.
Organizers plan to hold the How To Do Business event again next year.
For more information on the event and for business resources visit the Portsmouth Economic Development website.
This article was researched, reported, and written by a WTKR News 3 journalist. AI was used to minimize typos and ensure style continuity.
