Workforce shortages and talent development remain top issues among Georgia small businesses

July 16th, 2024

(From left to right) Tasha Allen, vice president of talent management and diversity of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Melvin Coleman, president and CEO of the Atlanta Black Chambers and Veronica Maldonado-Torres, president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, speak during a panel discussion at the "Georgia Chamber Presents: Future of Small Business" summit on July 16, 2024. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)

In between panels and presentations at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural “Future of Small Business” summit, attendees discussed the trends impacting business owners across the state, as well as their concerns about their futures as workforce and talent development remain top issues.

According to the US Small Business Administration, small businesses in Georgia employ over 1.7 million people.

“The larger companies in Georgia, we’ve surveyed, say workforce is an issue now, but 25 years from now, it’s gonna be technology,” said Chris Clark, the CEO and president of the Georgia Chamber.

“Small businesses said the workforce is an issue now and it’s still gonna be an issue 25 years from now.”

Earlier this year, the Chamber surveyed Georgia business executives, who also echoed that maintaining proper staffing and recruiting skilled workers has been an obstacle for some time.

Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, speaks during the “Georgia Chamber Presents: Future of Small Business” summit on July 16, 2024. (Marlon Hyde/WABE)

Another major challenge, Clark adds, is the funding gap between white-owned businesses and businesses run by people of color, with the former having more access to banking systems and resources.

Melvin Coleman, president and CEO of the Atlanta Black Chambers, says investments in underserved communities are critical to growth in the small business sector.

“We won’t be able to do that without loving and supporting each other and understanding that it’s time for us to be together as one,” Coleman said.

He says that with the rise of artificial intelligence, a critical amount of opportunities lie in the hands of Black entrepreneurs.

“The time is now for us to become educated, the time is now for us to become skilled, certified, whatever, and really understand ending artificial intelligence because it looks like it is going to adversely impact our community, which is consistent with how other things are,” Coleman said.