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Bryanna Herron
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic posed tremendous challenges for small businesses across the Rockford area. From restaurants to retail shops, we saw a record number of business closures during a year that upended years of planning and dedication. In Rockford, the number of available jobs fell more than 8% during the year.
By and large, women felt these economic setbacks the hardest, with reports indicating women left the workforce at nearly twice the rate of men last year, in many cases to care for children and oversee at-home learning.
However, there is a silver lining. We’ve seen a sharp uptick of women launching their own startups, taking their futures into their own hands. In Illinois, more than 150,000 small businesses were launched in 2020, up 45% from the year prior. As a community, we need to make absolutely certain these businesses thrive.