Small group connections are a key component to Power Up Spartanburg. Power Up Spartanburg photo
A cursory look at the Spartanburg business landscape might tempt you to think that all of its bursting, robust economy is coming from outside companies and industries – especially since in 2025 alone, the county was No. 1 by a mile over all others in South Carolina with $3.5 billion in capital investment and the creation of 1,024 new jobs.
But while outside commerce has indeed positioned the county and surrounding area as the state’s premier area for commerce, a ton of local business growth is now taking shape through the efforts of Power Up Spartanburg – whose leaders and members are uniting is a singular effort to transform the area into the No. 1 place in the U.S. to start, run, and grow a small business.
“Small businesses create the most jobs and provide opportunities for our citizens,” said John Kimbrell, chief business affairs officer with Power Up Spartanburg, which just celebrated its third anniversary in April. “And our continuum of resources and technical assistance continues to drive economic success for small business like never before.”
For example, since its creation in 2023 as a county-wide initiative with the American Rescue Plan Act, Spartanburg County Council, and local chamber of commerce OneSpartanburg, Inc., Power Up has so far engaged with 2,793 small business-owners or entrepreneurs, providing them with more than $15 million in contracts to creating 56 new businesses and 264 jobs.
Participating businesses have reported an average revenue growth of $185,000 per business, and have currently secured a total of $14.4 million in contracts with large companies.
And Kimbrell pointed out that a large part of this success has come not just from Power Up’s financial support, but with professional mentoring and real-world advice from subject matter experts “which our members seem to like and benefit from the most.”
“The OneSpartanburg Vision Plan 2.0 showed small business ownership countywide was below the national average, and Spartanburg County lagged behind the nation, by 30%, in the number of black-owned, non-employee businesses,” he said. “PowerUp is not just one service, but designed to meet a small business where they are.”
Ida Proctor and Aimee Cheek are two. Proctor owns and operates Proc’s Kitchen, a travelling food mobile; Cheek runs C&S Events and Catering, a full-service events company.
Starting in 2020-21 at the height of COVID on a shoestring hope and their own money, Proctor and Cheek spent the first two years just trying to see if their new businesses would have any customer appeal.
Both soon realized they were on to something – but to grow beyond a lingering COVID landscape, they faced the otherwise daunting task of securing outside investment.
“That was around the same time we heard what Power Up Spartanburg was doing for small businesses,” Proctor said.
She and Cheek sought help from organization professionals, who advised them on networking, next steps, and reliable loan-funding sources that not only support legitimate local business ventures, but allowed these two entrepreneurs to become part of the growing Spartanburg business community.
“Power Up helped bridge that gap,” Cheek said. “And as a small business, that matters more than anything.”
That bridging is now fast becoming something akin to a small-business bansai wave pipeline.
Based on projections by local chamber of commerce OneSpartanburg, the county’s population is expected to reach 414,000 by the year 2030 – an increase of about 34,000 over 2025.
At its 3-Year anniversary celebration held April 15 at Cheek’s venue Carolina on Southport, Power Up marked 140 registered attendees.
And Collier’s International has already dubbed the entire county and surrounding area as the “Inland Empire of the East Coast."
But Power Up leaders might have to go back to the drawing table for one item: their original five-year, $6-million effort might soon be in such demand that they will have to consider expanding the timeline to, say, 30 years – and who knows how many more millions for small business owners.
“Maybe most importantly, we’ll embark on the development of a OneSpartanburg Vision Plan 3.0 to carry our community’s momentum through 2031,” said OneSpartanburg president and CEO Allen Smith. “The future undoubtedly brings many challenges, but with our commitment to collaboration and continued improvement, I am optimistic about the path forward.”
