Luncheon Speaker Credits Small Businesses as Future of Economic Growth

David Chavern believes it will take 20 million jobs over the next 10 years to get the economy back on track. Those jobs, he said, will not come from the United States government.

That was the message Chavern, chief operating officer and executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, gave at the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce’s January Networking Luncheon Tuesday. Chavern said small businesses are what keep the country going.

“That’s where the jobs are created, in the smaller businesses,” said Chavern, who also serves as the president of the Falls Church Education Foundation. “We have to make sure the smaller businesses survive.”

More than 20 local businessmen and women attended the luncheon at the Italian Café in Falls Church. Chamber President Michael Ankuma said Chavern was selected to speak at the luncheon by the chamber’s program committee. Ankuma said future chamber functions would be geared more toward motivating local business like the Tuesday luncheon.

For the last 10 years Tom Gittins has owned and operated Art and Frame of Falls Church at 111 Park Ave. Gittins said Chavern’s presentation was relevant to Falls Church City because there are several small businesses in it.

“We’re the spokes of the wheel that make everything run,” Gittins said of small businesses. “We often get ignored.”

Chavern said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is made up of 300,000 businesses, some of which come from small cities like Falls Church. He said local chambers have the ability to network with their communities where as the national chamber serves more as an advocate for business growth in the country.

“We still have a weak economy,” Chavern told the group. “It’s like a burning ember. There are positive signs coming from the economy.”

Ankuma said the program was well received by the attendees. Hearing business-minded people inspires small, local businesses, he said. That’s something the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce wants more of, he said.

“I’m trying to make sure we have more people like him as we go forward,” Ankuma said. “I want people who can talk about how small businesses have a positive affect on the economy.”