Focal-Local

HOW DO YOU DEFINE A TINY BUSINESS? Unedited responses from conversations with TINY Business Owners

Charleston Secrets are Coming to Life

TINY businesses must be respected and encouraged. Established businesses have not existed in our neighborhoods for decades just to fall in oblivion. New TINY businesses need our support as well. Each of us is responsible for their well-being.

Activism

When we say TINY business, we refer to all those historic corner stores, barber shops, legal services or restaurants, pushed out by insultingly high rents or the absence of any public policies protective of Charleston’s original work-in / live-in populations.

TINY Is Powerful, TINY Is Energy

ConNECKtedTOO, a project of ART & CULTURE IN/WITH COMMUNITY FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, seeks to involve a classification of businesses we have labeled as TINY Businesses.

Welcome to A People’s Tour of Charleston!

Many TINY businesses in Charleston show the scars and carry the weight of every Charleston shortcoming. Yet, they are still the hope of those who want to make a difference in their community, their neighborhood.

Collaboration

Last summer, at the time of “conNECKted: Imaginings for Truth and Reconciliation”, the USDAC (United States Department of Arts and Culture) exposed us to the concept of Cultural Impact.

Car Painting Project

Learn about the apprenticeship project with Singleton’s Paint & Body Shop

In the Whorl of Time

A MANDALA project at James Simons School led by Pamella GIBBS with artist-in-residence Sonia OSIO. The GLOBAL MANDALA is a way to bring many pieces in a large vision of community gathering and connections for a purpose. The inspiration came at a conversation with my 15 year old grandson, who is very worried about the state of the world.

Streets & Ragquilting

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Policies

In my role as Minority Business Enterprise Manager for the City of Charleston I encountered a significant number of business owners having problems with access to capital. In my present role as Tiny Business Coordinator in the conNECKtedTOO project of The Charleston Rhizome Collective I have seen that “Tiny Businesses” also referred to as mom & pop operations, are not comparable to enterprises classified as small businesses by the Small Business Administration (SBA) in that they have less than 250 employees and make much less than 750,000 in average annual receipts.