Urban crime, inflation crushing small business, warns Job Creators Network

Crime, inflation, and supply chain shortages are hammering urban small businesses, especially those that are minority-owned, warns a spokesperson for a small business advocacy organization. 

Citing a poll commissioned for the Job Creators Network showing that 65% of small business owners are "very concerned about crime for their small businesses," Elaine Parker, chief communications officer for the nonprofit, said, "that number jumps to a staggering 85% when you look at just minority small business owners, and that's because they're typically located in cities, so they are subjected to more crime as a result."

While big corporations such as Walgreens, Starbucks, and Target have made headlines for leaving big cities as a result of crime, the impact on small business owners has been even more severe, Parker explained.

"Major companies are speaking out [about crime], and that's why they get headlines," Parker said in an interview on the John Solomon reports podcast. "But think about the small businesses. Let's say McDonald's closes six stores in Chicago. But what about the guy or the gal who owns a pizza parlor in downtown Chicago and continues to get hit by crime and has to close? That's their only location. They're done. They're out of business. McDonald's is going to go on. They've got thousands of locations around the country."

Making matters worse, the small businesses now under siege from exploding urban crime were already reeling from forced shutdowns during the pandemic followed by an inflationary spiral unleashed by unconstrained federal spending.

"For the last two and a half years through the pandemic, they have really taken the brunt of all of this," said Parker. "Coming out of the pandemic, they were faced with record inflation and high gas prices and labor shortages.

"All of these things disproportionately impact, in a negative way, our small businesses, and at the same time last week, when we were listening to inflation come back at 8.3% — showing that it isn't going anywhere, and that this administration has no control over it — the stock market tanked almost 1,300 points, along with all of our retirements.

"And the president is claiming 'Mission Accomplished,' at a  celebration on the front lawn. I have news for you, Joe: This is not a mission accomplished."