Small-business owners get a helping hand

Shelley Gaines worries for the future of her hair salon.

Her business is just west of Renton's changing downtown, and Gaines is concerned that her rent might go up as property values around her increase.

Taxes and rising utilities costs don't help.

"It scares me," said Gaines, who took over S.A.K.S. on 2nd hair salon three years ago.

It is for small-business owners like Gaines that the city and its partners have launched a Small Business Development Center (SBDC) aimed at helping owners kick start or maintain their small businesses.

The center opened last week at Renton Technical College.

Small business keep economies going, and Renton is no exception, city and business leaders say.

About 85 percent of Renton's businesses have fewer than 10 employees, said Bill Taylor, president of the Renton Chamber of Commerce.

The state ranks second in the country in small business start-ups but first in the number of closures, according to a report by Prosperity Partnership, a pro-business coalition of more than 200 private and public agencies in the Puget Sound.

The SBDC will, through free counseling, try to help small-business owners develop better business plans that will make them successful.

A counselor also will point people toward the right places for loans and help with tax requirements and responsibilities to employees, center business adviser Jim Kallenberg said.

Renton's SBDC office is one of 26 in the state. The centers have helped start or save more than 2,000 jobs in Washington, an SBDC report says.

It took officials from the city, Chamber of Commerce and Renton Technical College more than a year to open the center.

Small businesses close for myriad reasons, but Taylor blames the state's business and occupation tax for the high number of closures. He would like to see the state ease taxes for small businesses.

And while Renton has recently made headlines for attracting large businesses — the arrival of the Seahawks' training facility, a Federal Reserve Bank branch, a mixed-use site The Landing, and Providence Health Services — city officials said they want to keep small businesses and those appeal to a wide variety of residents.

Downtown Renton is seeing a surge in urban living, with condominiums and coffee shops springing up, and small businesses will have to deal with the effects of the changing downtown.

"We want to be a diverse community, both economically and socially," said Alex Pietsch, head of the city's Department of Economic Development. "Small business will be key in ensuring that diversity."

Mayor Kathy Keolker said small businesses are important to keep the city's identity. She wants an "eclectic" downtown and doesn't want Renton compared with neighboring cities or Seattle.

Back in the salon, Gaines washes a customer's hair.

The salon opened more than 20 years ago and had a set clientele when she took over, which made it an attractive investment.

Gaines likes the changes she sees in Renton.

"It's beautiful," she said. "I like that they kept the old nostalgia, but I like the new."

But Gaines isn't sure how her business will stay open if many more changes come.

Manuel Valdes: 206-748-5874 or mvaldes@seattletimes.com