SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County Precinct 3 Commissioner-elect Trish DeBerry is gearing up to hit the ground running for small businesses struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic.
DeBerry said she understands what it’s like being a small business owner after more than 20 years running her own company.
“It is hiring freezes. It’s salary freezes. It is cutting discretionary spending and how that looks. Hopefully, you have some sort of reserve fund,” DeBerry said.
She said she feels residents see her as someone who can relate to their problems while at the same time offering ways to fix issues.
“During this pandemic, nobody has suffered more than small businesses, and so when I am sworn in in January, I am going to make that a laser focus of mine,” DeBerry said.
DeBerry said she would like to see what a diverse task force could do to serve small businesses in the county.
“Nobody understands a small business more than a small business owner,” DeBerry said. “Bringing together a group of people from all over the county would help bring more ideas to the table. People like successful entrepreneurs, large corporations, and small business owners, so we can have constant conversations about what are the needs.”
DeBerry said once the needs are recorded, she would like to look at what resources are available.
“Is that an increase in microlending?” DeBerry questioned. “Is that perhaps a bond initiative that the county undertakes, where there is a continuous funding stream for four or five years regarding help to small businesses?”
DeBerry said she also plans to be more accessible and help with small business owners' needs or concerns.
“It is about accessibility for small businesses, having those conversations and coming up with solutions and ideas that maybe they haven’t thought about because they have been so busy hanging on by their fingernails to try to keep their doors open. Hopefully, working with my colleagues, I can be that voice for them,” DeBerry said.