SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio has seen more local businesses open their doors in the past three years.
That’s because during the pandemic, people have time to turn what was once a hobby into a full business model. Pre-pandemic there were 175,000 new business applications that number has grown to more than 400,000 in 2023.
Local entrepreneur Stephanie Scheller works with her business Grow Disrupt to host “grow your business” retreats and conferences for ADHD entrepreneurs. Seeing the number of small businesses that have opened in the past few years has made her excited for the city’s future.
“In one sense the pandemic was really really good for that, San Antonio has always been I call it small business USA right this is where we have a huge number of mom-and-pop shops we have a huge number of small businesses,” Scheller said.
The city is also doing its part to help small businesses. They are revamping and relaunching the Zero Percent Interest Loan Program aimed at fueling small business growth in San Antonio.
“We know they are important to the community, they’re important to our economic vitality and so you know that is something we really want to invest in growing them starting new small businesses and really having that broad cross section across the community,” said Ana Bradshaw, assistant director of economic development.
Two million dollars will be invested into this program with the city’s partnership with LiftFund for two years. This program can offer anywhere from $500 to $100,000 in interest-free loans.
Martha Zurita, chief communications, and advancement officer with LifFund said the company wants to continue funding small businesses because they know the value they bring to their community.
“They employ our neighbors, they create our sales tax revenue, and they are also offering valuable products and services to our local neighborhoods creating a vibrant economy and community that everyone can benefit from,” said Zurita.
If you would like more information about the program, you can find it here.