GHV Community Business Alliance – dedicated to local small businesses!

We are a non-profit based in Schaghticoke NY on a mission to connect local small businesses and our community members to strengthen our community because together, we thrive.

We are working to connect local small businesses in the Hoosic Valley area with one another and with our community to make shopping small simple! Through our monthly newsletter, we will be highlighting the best of local goods and services all in one place – taking all of the work out of shopping small. We found through focus groups and research that many people who had been in our area for years had no awareness of the majority of small businesses that were operating right in their community despite the efforts of the business owners to get eyes on them through advertising and social media efforts. This led to a simple and beautiful concept – to bring the best of local right to the inboxes of community members that cared about shopping small.

We also aim to connect small business owners with one another to get them more support. Entrepreneurship can be a very lonely journey, but it doesn’t have to be. So many of the opportunities to connect and build community have costs associated with them that create barriers for attendance. Through monthly meetings at rotating times and days and other social gatherings, we aim to provide time and space for interested owners to connect with like-minded individuals. This will allow for a sounding board for owners that are working through problems or getting ready to launch new parts of their business. They will also get the chance to share their experience and expertise through these interactions as well as monthly talks given by members of the alliance at the beginning of our meetings. This will make each meeting multi-purpose and help members to stay up to date on best practices in small business operation and mentor new startup owners that will be able to see quicker success by learning from the trials and tribulations of others.

The unique nature of the Greater Hoosic Valley region is one that only small business owners in the area can truly understand. This is the reason why we want to focus on hyper local small businesses, especially to get started. Being in a rural area that is 30 minutes away from multiple city centers creates opportunities and challenges that are not the same as the stores that exist in those cities. In particular, the anonymity of not having significant amounts of traffic driving by your store front (if you even have one) is one of the challenges that we aim to tackle right away with this business alliance. Not just through our newsletter, but also through our social media channels. We hope you are following along with us on Facebook and Instagram and are signed up for the newsletter. If no, check out the links in the header of this page to take care of that before you go!

If you have a local small business in the Greater Hoosic Valley area of NY, please don’t hesitate to reach out to find out more. We have monthly in person information sessions to get you up to speed and have webinars coming soon.