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Charleston Business

The Business Narrative-Small Business Fears

Jul 15, 2022 01:08PM ● By Lori Coon




July Report: 47 Percent of SMBs In Jeopardy, Fear Closing By Fall

Alignable's Small Business Revenue Report reveals troubling news.

 

The report is based on a poll of 4,392 randomly selected small business owners conducted from 6/10/22 to 7/13/22, along with historic data from 680,000 surveyed since March 2020.

 Key highlights:

 * 47 percent of small business owners (SMBs) say they're businesses are at risk of closing by Fall of '22, unless economic conditions improve significantly.

 * That's up 12 percentage points from last summer, when only 35 percent were concerned about economic issues forcing them to shut down.

 * And SMBs in key industries face even bigger problems: 59 percent of retailers are at risk, along with 52 percent in construction, 51 percent in the automotive sector, and 50 percent of restaurant owners. 

 * Supporting these unfortunate trends, the total percentage of SMBs reporting that they've fully recovered has dropped 7 percentage points since last summer. In the Summer of '21, 33 percent were fully recovered. But now, that number has declined to a new low: just 26 percent.

 * Looking at different states and provinces, small businesses in CO (54 percent), MI (52 percent), OH (51 percent), PA (51 percent) , and Texas (51 percent) are struggling the most.

So, what's causing these concerns? To put it simply, cumulative hurdles confronting small business owners over the past year or more.

 The challenges include record-breaking inflation, higher-than-normal gas prices, rent hikes, labor issues, a still-broken supply chain, reports of reduced consumer spending, elevating interest rates, recessionary fears, and the fact that several businesses have not recouped losses from 2020-2021 yet.

Sonoco ThermoSafe, Turkish Cargo Sign Global Master Lease Agreement

Sonoco ThermoSafe, a unit of Hartsville, S.C.-based Sonoco (NYSE:SON) and one of the largest global providers of temperature assurance packaging, and Turkish Airlines, a partner in transporting time-and- temperature sensitive pharmaceutical cargo across the world, announced a global partnership agreement for leasing the new Pegasus ULD temperature-controlled bulk shipping container.

 The agreement enables pharmaceutical freight forwarders access to Pegasus ULD containers directly from Turkish Cargo.

 Sonoco ThermoSafe’s Pegasus ULD is the world’s first FAA and EASA-approved passive bulk temperature-controlled ULD container for pharmaceutical use, which company officials say enables it to speed through international air freight handling and customs processes at the lowest possible cost.

With a focus on sustainability, the Pegasus ULD is engineered with composite materials, offering a lighter solution that is also substantially more damage-resistant than traditional metal containers, the officials say.

 Additionally, the Pegasus ULD contains a fully integrated, FAA-approved telemetry system providing real-time, cloud-based data on payload and ambient temperature and key environmental factors, precisely synchronized with GPS location.

Denny's Names Lillian Elmore of Hungry for Education Scholarship Program's National Winner

Fueled by its commitment to education and combating childhood hunger, Spartanburg-based Denny's Corp. named Lillian Elmore of Lexington, Mass. its national winner as part of the 2021 Hungry for Education Scholarship Program.

 This year's winners and 2021 graduates celebrated their commitment to working to end childhood hunger in May at a virtual program, hosted by comedian Akintunde Warnock.

The ceremony featured these scholars and special remarks from Denny's executives, including John Miller, Denny's board member and former Denny's CEO, and April Kelly Drummond, vice president, diversity, equity and inclusion, who recognized the outstanding work the winners have done to eliminate childhood hunger.

Denny's Hungry for Education is a scholarship program that recognizes and rewards students who show initiative and creativity in helping Denny's fight childhood hunger.

 Partnering with 11 leading, non-profit, minority advocacy organizations, Denny's awarded over $300,000 in scholarships this year to deserving elementary, high school and college students.

Since its launch in 2011, the brand has awarded nearly $2 million in scholarships.

 Elmore, a freshman at High Point University in High Point, N.C., received her $1,500 scholarship as part of Denny's partnership provided in conjunction with Partners with Youth Disabilities.

 Elmore impressed the judges with her belief that, "Community starts in the neighborhood you live in and seeing your community reflected back to you is a terrific way to continue to build it."

 She suggests that every Denny's hang a TV monitor and invite its guests to "take pictures of themselves with their friends and family, eating at Denny's and celebrating life's moments. Denny's can have those photos scroll on the monitor as people walk in."

Students can apply now for next year's scholarship by going to www.dennyshungryforeducation.com.

Credit One Stadium Continues 2022 Concert Series

Credit One Bank, a leading financial services company, continues a star-studded lineup of major musical acts and performances at Credit One Stadium in Charleston, S.C., throughout the summer and fall.

 The 2022 concert series represents the first of many public events on deck at the recently renovated Credit One Stadium, which opened to the public in April during the Credit One Charleston Open tennis tournament.

The two-year renovation of Credit One Stadium included the addition of 16 state-of-the-art suites, a 75,000-square foot Stage House and lounge, expanded spectator capacity from 7,000 to 11,000 seats, and upgrades to amenities throughout the complex.

Credit One Stadium has hosted major musical acts including Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert, The Lumineers, Kenny Chesney and Dave Matthews Band.

Upcoming shows in the 2022 concert series include:

 July 23: Thomas Rhett: Bring The Bar To You Tour

 August 23: Santana: Miraculous Supernatural Tour

 August 30: The Black Keys: The Dropout Boogie Tour

 September 2: Sam Hunt: Special Guests Ryan Hurd & Lily Rose

 September 11: OneRepublic + NEEDTOBREATHE: Never Ending Summer Tour

 September 13: Elton John

 October 16: Shawn Mendes Wonder: The World Tour.

For more information about the Credit One Stadium concert series, go to CreditOneStadium.com/events/.