This is National Small Business week and I thought I’d take a moment to recognize small businesses – including ours!

I’m proud to be the owner of a successful small business.  I’m also proud to be a businessman with an entrepreneurial spirit.  Believe me, it wasn’t easy.  I remember when we first started Cardinal back in 1987, the owners met in my basement every Saturday morning for a year for probably half a day.  We missed relaxing with our kids, attending activities and generally “being there” for our families as we planned and strategized for this enterprise we were going to create.  In the beginning we all had jobs but as we got closer to the launch date, we had to devote our full time and energy to the new company to try to get it up and running.  Our story is not unusual and has been repeated, in one form or another for generations across all sorts of industries.  We had an idea and were willing to risk it all to get things started.  Those first several years were very difficult but we made it.  Today Cardinal Management Group, Inc.  has grown into a nationally recognized leader in community association management and we are so proud of our team members and most especially our senior leaders that have, and continue to make, our success not only possible, but sustainable!

Small business is, and has always been, the back bone of our economy.  This is particularly true in the service industries.  Without small business, our economy would tank (as we’ve seen during these COVID struggles).   What strikes me most is the tenacity and resiliency of the small business owners.  They work hard, long hours, often behind the scenes to make “the trains run on time”.  That’s why I always try to patronize small business owners wherever and whenever possible.  Given a choice of where to shop, where to buy, where to eat and places to go, support the USA and our economy and citizens, by patronizing the small business owners!  It matters!