Austin’s small business community has found that the city has become less affordable.
“Permitting, for example, is very difficult,” Kerbey Lane Cafe Vice President of Communication Amanda Kuda is quoted as saying by KVUE ABC. “Our last two restaurants we specifically opened outside of Austin city limits because of ease of open.”
Kerbey Lane Cafe, which has opened seven locations since 1980, has begun looking around Austin to open their eighth location.
“I think there is tremendous capacity to achieve in Austin, but there’s a lot of chance for people to be driven out and to struggle,” said Kuda.
Small businesses in Austin are struggling from a variety of problems including permitting, rising property taxes, higher rents, and the lack of incentives.
Larger businesses in the capital city such as Apple, Visa, and Samsung have procured incentive agreements with the city.
The city of Austin hopes to change that trend with new economic development plans.
“Those are the businesses that really help us secure the culture of the city and that makes Austin unique,” David Colligan, manager of global business expansion for the city of Austin Economic Development Department, is quoted as saying. “We do so much more as an economic development department than just recruiting big business here, and we’re going to change that narrative. We are serious about how we secure that business base, preserve that culture and how we create more opportunities for those that are here in Austin.”
The promotion of small business development in Austin began in early May with the economic development department presenting its small business plan to the Austin City Council, according to KVUE ABC.
