The 9th Annual State of Small Business in Chatham County will be presented live online, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, on SCORE SAVANNAH’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SCORESavannah/

Ten area business leaders of different sectors will each have three minutes to present a brief overview of the current situation in Chatham County pertaining to their industries. They will then offer their insights into what this means to the future of Savannah and the small business owner.

The 2021 State of Small Business in Chatham County presenters are:

SPEAKER: Michael Toma, Ph.D., professor of economics, Georgia Southern University in Savannah
Topic: Small Business Employment Stats

SPEAKER: Michael Owens, CEO, Tourism Leadership Council
TOPIC: Tourism Business

SPEAKER: Moncello Stewart, president, Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce
TOPIC: Black Business Owners

SPEAKER: Scott C. Scheidt, chief security officer, Seimitsu IT Services and High-Speed Broadband Fiber
TOPIC: Fiber and Cyber Security

SPEAKER: Rhett Mouchet, associate broker, Colliers International Savannah
TOPIC: Commercial Real Estate Trends

SPEAKER: Mike Rose, Development Liaison Manager, City of Savannah
TOPIC: Local Growth in Construction

SPEAKER: Charles Bowen, corporate / entertainment attorney, The Bowen Law Group
TOPIC: Film Industry in Savannah

SPEAKER: Victoria Saxton, CFO, Small Business Assistance Corporation
TOPIC: Small Business Access to Capital in the Savannah Region

SPEAKER: Lori Pitt, regional manager, Hire Dynamics
TOPIC: Staffing

SPEAKER: Becky Brownlee, area director, Small Business Development Center, UGA
TOPIC: Small Business Survey 2020

The event will be moderated by Marjorie Young and Joe Marchese, founders of The State of Small Business in Chatham County.

The presenting sponsors are Wells Fargo and Savannah SCORE.

Supporting sponsors include The University of Georgia Small Business Development Center, The City of Savannah’s Entrepreneurial Center, The Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce, Carriage Trade Public Relations® Inc. and Joe Marchese Construction.