The Prince William County Department of Development Services’ Small Business Program today announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended, December 31, 2021. The Program achieved its highest yearly results on record with over 400 small business owners “Open for Business.”
In 2021, there were 442 customers served by the program. Of those, 401 small business owners “Opened for Business” in Prince William County. This number reflects an increase of 80 more customers that opened a business, compared to calendar year 2020.
In the last quarter of 2021, 120 small business owners received a certificate of occupancy or authorization letter to ‘‘Open for Business,’ which marked the highest volume of customers to open their doors in any quarter in the past three years. The last quarter of 2021 also yielded the largest square footage for the year, with 145,526 square feet of occupied space.
CY2021 Performance Highlights
· 401 small businesses ‘Opened for Business’
· 442 active customers served
· Over 427, 817 sq. ft. of occupied space
· 25% more new businesses
· 90% customer satisfaction with project processing
· 85.9% customer satisfaction with overall service
“Small business owners continue to use our services to grow, which is notable when we are hearing of macroeconomic challenges, like cost of inflation and supply chain disruptions, that are impacting budgets,” said Wade A. Hugh, Director, Department of Development Services.
“Success stories are typically on the heels of a lot of hard work to gain financial resources, attract customers, access a quality workforce, establish a brand and build community partnerships. An important aspect to all of this is the ability to operate in a stable and predictable government environment, which begins with our elected officials who support a business-friendly environment, and all those talented professionals that work hard every day to serve and retain Prince William County businesses,” added Hugh.
Since 2018, the Small Business Project Management Program has served more than 1,174 small business owners and helped them open for business. As lead Development Services Agency for the County, the Department of Development Services is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code by reviewing commercial and residential construction plans, issuing permits, inspecting structures, and enforcing building code requirements. The Department also manages the site and subdivision plan review and permit issuance process, administers the posting and releasing of bonds and escrows, and issues zoning permits.
