Jessica Webb
editor@thesmokymountaintimes.com
If you know Elissa Hashemi, you know there’s no better advocate for building community and cheering on small businesses. She’s got more than 15 years working in the service industry in downtown Sylva including as a server for many years at Guadalupe Café and has spearheaded several events and projects, from Play for Peace in 2007 to Shopping Sylva Support during the pandemic.
You’ll also know that she will hate that I’m started this story about her because she’s always selflessly boosting others and promoting small businesses.
I sat down with my friend recently to learn more about Create Bridges and what it’s doing to boost small businesses through this difficult time coming out of Covid during a serious labor shortage.
Create Bridges is a pilot program funded by Walmart to strengthen retail, accommodations, tourism and entertainment businesses in rural areas. The Western North Carolina program is a partnership with NC State University and Mountain West Partnership.
Those who participate receive virtual swag bags including two networking events, a resource fair, a one-on-one session with a small business council counselor, a two-minute commercial and other perks.
Got Your Back
The work began with surveying local small business owners about what they needed. The resounding answer was staffing, so Create Bridges started with a Got Your Back event in April with 10 businesses gathering for a day of training and networking.
“It was fascinating. For two years, they felt so alone and unsupported,” she said of business owners through the pandemic. The event she said, “was the coolest synergy and bonding” experience for the business owners.
Things Create Bridges heard was needed: de-escalation tactics for employees “because that was a really big deal with staff getting yelled at by customers” during the pandemic, Hashemi said.
Employee trainings starting with soft stills and customer relations and how to interact with a team were also recognized needs.
“Something really important for me is there are lots of people working in the service industry who don’t know where they want to go,” Hashemi said. She wanted the trainings to “hold water” for those who participated. With that in mind, Create Bridges partnered with the Sequoyah Fund in Cherokee so participants can earn certificates for such skills, giving them more tools as employees.
Businesses who took part in the April event are also getting commercials produced for free through a partnership with Western Carolina University, and they are working on making hard skills training videos for employees. For example, Hashemi said, City Lights Café will have a video about how to make crepes and espressos for staff to use as a reference.
Got Your Back is now available as an online academy for employers at no cost to them and participants will have a GYB sticker showing customers that management has invested the time and energy into learning how to become the best work environment for its staff.
An employee soft skills course designed by Dr. Annie Wilson, a professor at Western Carolina University, is now available as well. Participants can receive industry recognized credentials by taking courses through NFR Foundation training program RISE Up.
We Speak WNC
From there, a focus shifts to We Speak WNC.
“That started out as an idea for workers to be ambassadors or tour guides in a way,” Hashemi explained. “We want to empower front line workers. I want them to be experts on this area.”
The idea is to create opportunities for team building where employees can go to attractions like Nantahala Outdoor Center, so the employees of small businesses in our area will be able to make recommendations to customers based on their own experiences.
“It’s all team building, and it’s a thank you for working and a cross-promotional thing for the region,” Hashemi explained.
Create Bridges is also working on other local perks for employees that could happen through business partnerships, such as gift cards to other businesses. “It’s something that you can afford, and is like a cafeteria plan where it’s something usable for them,” Hashemi said.
We Speak conference
Create Bridges is planning a We Speak WNC conference to be held over two days at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino February 27 and 28. This will be a resource fair for employers and employees.
Hashemi envisions We Speak eventually becoming a website or mobile app. This would become both a buy local campaign and a tool for finding what is available locally.
“We want it to be a bigger tool, be friendly and accessible,” she said.
Create Bridges is also partnering with WCU for a secret shopper program where colleges students will visit and provide feedback about local businesses.
A talent pipeline for the CREATE sector
Another focus of Create Bridges is in partnership with Southwestern Community College’s Small Business Center. This is an effort to build a talent pipeline for the service industry. A questionnaire was sent to businesses to gauge interest in hiring youth, retirees and people in recovery and reentry programs as well as immigrants and people with disabilities.
There’s even more work and more local partnerships happening with Create Bridges than what we’ve reviewed here. As Hashemi put it, “The merge here is unprecedented.”
To get involved or learn more, contact Hashemi at ehashem@ncsu.edu or call 828-506-5414.