Frankfort, like most small city and communities who wants to thrive by its treasured culture, builds around its strengths, and expand its resources to keep up with the demands of a growing diverse population. To grow and develop the City of Frankfort, there are unseen hurdles as well as known obstacles to overcome.  In 2019, the Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce, the Frankfort Mayor’s Office, and the Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program (KSUCEP) collaborated with the University of Kentucky (UK) Community Economics Development Initiatives of Kentucky (CEDIK) to conduct a survey of local businesses to identify growth barriers and table recommendations to assist with small business development and growth in Frankfort.  

The Business Retention and Extension Initiative was used to assess challenges faced by small business owners in the following areas: organization demographics, products and services, market and Industry, technical assistance network, growth potential, business risk management, community services, and support. Interviews were conducted with 45 businesses in the City. 33% shared the obstacles of having limited access to credit, difficulties overcoming regulations and red tape opening a business, establishing business identity in the community, and limited access to a trained and reliable workforce. 

Findings also showed the Chamber of Commerce should host its events at other retail, industry, and businesses outside the chamber's membership as a recruiting method.  It was suggested the chamber should have a stronger role in advocacy between local and state government for small businesses. Additional findings expose businesses that could utilize assistance from KSU addressing marketing and advertisement needs. 64% of the businesses surveyed needed help with transition and succession planning, workforce development and financial planning, and emergency preparedness planning.  

Chris Cribbs and Gill Finley, State Specialists with KSU were asked by Carman Inman of the chamber to serve on the board for a $90,000 funding project sponsored by Care Source. The initiative was to help Frankfort’s small businesses recover from COVID-19. Several of the businesses surveyed received guidance by Chris and Gill on how and where to apply for grants. Six businesses were able to receive a hand-delivered check for $2500 - $4700 as grant recipients for a total of $26,000 to assist them with their rent, staff payroll, and inventory. 

An additional outcome and benefit for the local businesses are KSUCEP and the Frankfort Area Chamber of Commerce are currently scheduled to address recommendations from the businesses to seek sources for funding or establishment of capital at an attractive or incentivized interest rate. It was recommended partnerships should be built with interested high schools to develop workforce training programs.  KSUCEP in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce will continue to work toward allocating resources that will help small businesses thrive in the City of Frankfort.