Austin News

A founding board member of the Austin Independent Business Alliance (AIBA) will soon end her longtime work with the AIBA but she hopes that efforts to refocus on the needs of local businesses will continue. 

Rebecca Melancon was involved in the alliance's beginnings in 2001 and has served as executive director for a decade. Although she will have officially vacated the position at the end of this month, she looks back positively on having helped thousands of local businesses thrive, in addition to starting the Shop Local movement in Austin. 

"AIBA has been at the forefront of building the movement nationally and advocating for local policies that benefit our local businesses," Melancon said. However, despite years of advocacy from the AIBA at City Hall, Melancon believes that the alliance's message—that the city's 50,000-plus local businesses are important to Austin's economy and culture—have fallen on deaf ears at the local government level. 

"[...] Our elected officials had failed to focus substantial economic development efforts on our local economy by investing in and retaining local business," she said.

The adversity that Austin local businesses face is heightened by the coronavirus situation, and Melancon pointed out that the city hasn't rolled out grants, zero interest loans and other forms of aid that other cities, counties and states have to help small businesses make it through the devastating effects of the pandemic.

"The current pandemic is devastating to local business," Melancon said. "What’s more devastating is our local and state government’s near-total lack of resources to help small local business survive the shutdown."

She said recovery from the pandemic will be the biggest economic challenge for Austin in 2020 and beyond, adding, "The lost revenue, depleted savings and acquired debt from this time will follow small businesses for several years."

Melancon said that the mayor and city council should realign their focus back to Austin's local storefronts instead of drawing big businesses to the community, and that retention of those small businesses is important.

The former executive director will serve on the AIBA's national umbrella alliance, the American Independent Business Alliance.

"I can’t begin to tell you what an honor it’s been to lead AIBA to become the successful organization it is today," she said in a blog post earlier this month," she said. "I will always cherish these years and each and every one of you for letting me travel this path with you. Getting to know our local legends and shining a spotlight on new entrepreneurs has been an education like no other and a joy. I bid you a heartfelt farewell."