The City of Scottsbluff has filled a newly created position aimed at helping small businesses in the community.
Kayla Imus has been hired as Scottsbluff’s Small Business Outreach Coordinator, and will be working alongside Economic Development Director Starr Lehl.
“It’s really the small businesses that are the heartbeat of our community,” says Lehl. “So we felt we needed a person to reach out to the businesses; get a list of businesses that the City of Scottsbluff can communicate with; let them know what’s going on within our community and work with them more closely.”
Lehl says her job is more focused on bringing in manufacturing jobs and jobs with benefits, so having someone to compliment her position to focus on the mom and pop businesses will be great for the community.
Imus, a Hemingford native, says she’s lived in the community for more than a decade and is a small business owner herself. She tells KNEB News there’s something special about small businesses in a community like Scottsbluff.
“You get a special feeling when you walk into someone’s boutique or store and everybody is very polite and greets you very nicely,” says Imus. “I’ve seen businesses come and go, so it’s going to be very important to have somebody in a role that can understand the needs for those small businesses to help them continue to grow and prosper here.”
Imus will be working with Lehl to get up to speed on a variety of resources available, including things like façade improvement grants, who can utilize them the best, and what they can offer to everybody as far as what’s available.
Social media marketing will also be a key role for the Small Business Outreach Coordinator.
“She’ll be in charge of all of our social media,” explains Lehl. “We had two or three people doing different things with the City’s social media and now just one person is going to be in charge of that. We haven’t had an Instagram account before, so when there is a street closed or a watermain break somewhere, Kayla’s going to be able to get that information out to the public.
The goal is to make the City of Scottsbluff more customer friendly and streamline ways to inform its residents.
Imus will be formally introduced to the Scottsbluff City Council on Monday night.
