SUMTER, S.C. — It’s Small Business Week, and tonight, Sumter is celebrating the sacrifices and the impact that small businesses have on the community.
Triple B’s BBQ opened its doors at this location on Peach Orchard Road in Dalzell a few months ago. Co-owners Chris and Nicole Armstrong say as a small business, they rely completely on their community’s support.
"It’s like, you have to have it or you won’t live," Chris shares. "You’ll lose everything you’ve got."
After operating a food truck, the Armstrong's decided to take a risk and open a storefront in February. To serve the community, they say it’s a labor of love.
"Multiple times during the week, we’ll work all day and I don't get home until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning 'cuz I'm still prepping all the meat and running the smoker. Because we’re small, we don’t have any staff. It’s all family," Chris explains. "I've got to stay here at night, sacrifice my time with my family, just to have food to serve customers."
It's why Chris Hardy with the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce says supporting these businesses matters.
"Small businesses here are the backbone of Sumter. Always has been, always will be," Hardy details. "A lot of people know Sumter for our industry and manufacturing footprint, a lot of people know us for Shaw Air Force Base footprint, but really if you go down to it and you look in detail and you look at our community, small business is what we’re about."
Like Air Solutions, which Jimmy Davis started in 2013. Since opening, the heating and air company has won a host of awards, including the 2022 Small Business of the Year title.
"It takes a lot to jump out on your own and start a small business," Davis shares.
Davis was born in Sumter, and says it’s changing every day as the city continues to grow, leaving more opportunities for small businesses to develop. In turn, Davis says, this attracts larger industries.
"In the future it’s going to be very important because it creates jobs, it keeps people busy. It’s important for me to see Sumter on a path of growth to make sure that we get the right industries we need," Davis explains. "When industries come to Sumter, they want to see a community that can support their industry before they decide to come here so it’s important for us to have these local businesses that can support these families that are going to move here and make them want to move here."
Small businesses bringing industries here to help the local economy, while also having an impact of their own.
"The economic impact of small businesses, you’re talking about your individual homeowners, them paying for their kids to go to school, your private schools, what have you. It’s your entrepreneurs that have made this country what it is, as well as our community," Hardy tells me. "When you really sit down and think about it, your small businesses are the people you see at church, your small business owners are the people you see at the grocery store."
Tonight, the Chamber will choose a new small business of the year. That free celebration is happening right now at the live at Lavender Estate on Main Street.