4 Ways Greensboro Chamber of Commerce Supports Local Small Businesses

If you’re a small business owner who’s considering joining the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, you might be wondering how the Chamber supports businesses like yours. From hosting networking events and helping new companies receive business licenses in Greensboro, NC, to supporting minority-owned businesses and advocating for Greensboro-centric legislation, we do our best to ensure businesses have all the support they need to succeed.
As you consider partnering with the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, find out more about the four primary ways the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce helps small businesses.

1. Hosting Entrepreneurship and Educational Programs

When you’re planning on starting a new small business or already have a business that you want to improve, you can likely benefit from our Launch entrepreneurship programs. LaunchCamp is a weekend-long training program for entrepreneurs who are introducing new products/services or planning to launch a business. In the program, you’ll learn how to use the Lean Startup approach while creating a framework for growing your business.
LaunchLab 101 is another one of our programs for new business owners. This five-week program (held once a week) covers setting up a corporate and financial structure, developing customer personas, determining whether a business has intellectual property, and creating marketing strategies. Established business owners looking to grow their business can take part in LaunchLab Growth, which is a 14-work program that aims to accelerate your business’s growth. You can also receive advice about receiving business loans in Greensboro if you need more capital to scale.

2. Providing Networking Opportunities

The best business owners know that who they know can be just as important as what they know. Since having a diverse network of fellow business owners and leaders to rely on can be essential to a business’s success, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce offers multiple networking opportunities to professionals and business leaders in Greensboro. Our most popular network events include Coffee & Conversation, WE Connect, and our new On the Go series. We even offer Networking Bootcamps to help business leaders make stronger connections.
With a wide variety of businesses and leaders attending these events, you can pick their brains for advice and information you’re not familiar with. For example, if you’ve realized you need small business IT support in Greensboro, you can talk with other participants about who they’ve worked with for their IT needs. You might also want to talk about business insurance in Greensboro, NC, or any other topic you’re looking for greater clarity on. Whatever your question, networking events are great ways to get answers!

3. Advocating for Greensboro-Centric Legislative Agendas

We’re proud to advocate for Greensboro small businesses and residents at the NC General Assembly, Greensboro City Council, and other relevant legislative bodies. For example, we supported North Carolina’s $8b 2021 infrastructure investment that aimed to modernize transportation, broadband, sewer, and public education infrastructure in the state. We also supported the 2019 Small Business Healthcare Act and Senate Bill 228 in 2021, which allowed employers to offer EPO Benefits Plans.
Alongside our past accomplishments, we’re currently advocating for the Eastern Triad Workforce, Ready Ready’s development of an Integrated Data System for children’s educational programs, and a variety of other initiatives, partnerships, and programs. If you believe your business could benefit from new legislation, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce can help walk you through that process and give you additional support if the new program or initiative is implemented.

4. Helping Minority-Owned Businesses Scale

If you operate a minority-owned business in Greensboro, our Scale to Excel program is designed to help your business scale. The cohort-based program provides a business support system, executive education, and management know-how, helping business owners improve their business while making last connections with other entrepreneurs.
While the tuition cost for this program is $10,000, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and community partners subsidize the total tuition cost, making the program extremely accessible. Based on 2022 Assessment data, businesses that have taken part in the program have seen an average 36% growth rate in revenue, $2,400,000 in new contracts (per firm), and a 4x job creation rate compared to the private sector.

Join the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce

Due to the many ways we support many local Greensboro small businesses, we’re confident we can help you reach your goals. Whether you’re looking for entrepreneurship classes, advocacy for your business, minority-owned business assistance, or networking opportunities, we have a program or event for you. If you have an idea about how the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce could better serve businesses in the area, we’re always looking for ways to improve our efforts, and we’ll be happy to speak with you.
Learn more about our entrepreneurship programs and how to join the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce today.

If you have any questions about the ways we can help you improve your marketing efforts, please contact us.