Want to open a business? Horry County is taking steps to make it easier

Have you ever wanted to open up your own small business, but found the process to do confusing, cumbersome or too expensive?

Horry County wants to make the process of starting a small business easier.

At its monthly meeting Monday, council members on the Infrastructure and Regulation Committee asked county officials to study and propose ways that the county either cut red tape for those who want to open a business, or make it less expensive. Those recommendations are due to the committee at its next meeting on Dec. 10 and council members said they’ll then debate the recommendations and move an ordinance through the standard legislative process.

“There’s got to be some sort of way that we as a county government can help folks get a home field advantage,” said Council member Al Allen, who represents Aynor and Western Horry County. “There needs to be a method or pathway that is simpler, clearer, and less expensive.”

Among the ideas proposed by council members and officials were a grant program for new small businesses, a public education program to inform those who want to start a new business of the local requirements and processes and and requirement that a certain percentage of county projects contract with DBEs — disadvantaged business enterprises — a state status for businesses owned by women, veterans or other people in a minority group.

The move comes as local leaders are considering how to boost the local economy, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus. A recently commissioned study of the local economy showed that the Myrtle Beach area is poised to regain its economic losses from the pandemic, but that such a recovery will take time. Among other findings, that study reported that the unemployment in the Myrtle Beach area peaked at 22%, the highest in South Carolina.

One way to boost the economy is to help out small businesses and start-ups, council members said.

“We still have tens of thousands of acres in this county that’s still unincorporated and it’s not much population,” said Council member W. Paul Prince, who represents Loris. “And if people want to go into business out there, especially if they’re local and they’re not a chain company that’s not on the stock market with piles of money to go in business...they need to be encouraged to go in business and not put so many things on them that they’ll run away and fold up and not go into business.”

To open a small business in Horry County today, an entrepreneur must first go through all planning and zoning procedures to ensure their physical place of business is aligned with county land codes. That process can involve landscaping, engineering costs and approval from county planners. If they’re running a business from their home, different rules apply. After that, they must apply and pay for a business license.

Prince, who used to own a gas station and convenience store in Aynor, said he wouldn’t have been able to open his business if today’s regulations were in place.

“If I would have had all these strings on me I never would have been able to go into business,” he said. “As I went along I improved my business as I had money to do it.”

At Monday’s meeting, county Planning Director David Schwerd said the county already has loose rules for people operating businesses out of their homes, and didn’t want to make those any looser. However, he said, he’s always willing to streamline planning and zoning processes, especially if they pertain to a person opening a business.

Schwerd said he favored a county-run grant program for new small businesses to help pay for start up costs, or an educational program that would allow county officials to walk wannabe-entrepreneurs through all the steps and process they’d need to follow. Such an education program could possibly involve one of the local colleges, he said. Schwerd said he was also in favor of a small business incentive program. Because county officials are only beginning to study those, and other options this week, details on any potential programs aren’t yet available.

“Definitely small business economic incentives, that is where our base is, we have a very entrepreneurial spirit in Horry County,” Schwerd said Monday. “There’s a lot of people who move here with good ideas and anything we can do, even if it was to just educate them...would be a good route to go.”

Allen added that he would be in favor of adding a requirement that a certain percentage of major county projects be awarded to businesses classified as DBEs, perhaps 5% of a major infrastructure project, he said for example. Such policies are common in South Carolina’s larger cities and allow public dollars to flow to smaller and more diverse companies.

Big picture, Allen said, the county should “develop a new road map for small business start ups that don’t have a lot of capital.” To do so, he suggested the county loosen some regulations or implement a step program where a business can open, and then come into compliance with county regulations over time, as they have the funds to do so. He also favors a grant program, he said.

“If we could identify a certain industry or certain fields that are lacking representation (and) encourage someone starting up a business in that area, that would be a great idea,” he said.

More concrete plans for how the county could aid small businesses and new start-ups are due in the coming weeks and months. County spokesperson Kelly Moore said staff are already at work on the issue.

“Staff will be reviewing our rules and regulations over the next couple of months to see where we can provide flexibility and streamline our process,” she said.

In an email, the Karen Riordan the president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce said the organization is supportive of the county’s efforts, even if it doesn’t have concrete plans yet.

“In general, the chamber is in support of programs that make it easier to do business in Horry County,” she wrote. “We appreciate the efforts of our County and all government entities that are recognizing the strain put on new and existing businesses throughout 2020 and for searching for solutions to ease that strain.”

Similarly, Ted Pitts, the president and CEO of the statewide Chamber of Commerce said he appreciated the county’s efforts. However, Pitts added that he’d like to see the county focus on supporting existing small businesses first.

“I praise them for taking on the task for thinking about how they can aid small businesses,” he said. “County government should be more focused on keeping the small businesses they have as opposed to trying to get new small businesses. We’d be in favor of measures that support small businesses whether it’s cutting taxes or fees or regulations.”