This month’s closure of the Keurig coffee roasting plant in Windsor and the potential, but no guarantee, of future jobs from the 460 Commerce Center and Tidewater Logistics Center should be strong reminders of the need to strengthen the foundation of any local economy: existing small businesses.

In the high-stakes game of economic development, you might occasionally reel in a big fish, but it’s just as likely to slip off the hook. Conversely, an economy can stay well nourished on a bunch of smaller fish, which are the homegrown small businesses controlled by local people rather than big businesses subject to the whims of corporate boardrooms that can shutter a plant or warehouse as fast as it opens one.

Isle of Wight County’s economic development team has done a good job of supporting small businesses. The cash-rebate program to support Smithfield businesses during the hardship posed by the Cypress Creek bridge closure was a good example, led by the capable Nicole Talton. While it didn’t achieve the results everyone wanted, such initiatives must be the norm rather than an occasional experiment.

We also worry about the message, perhaps unintentional, that appointed and elected leadership send small businesses when making planning and zoning decisions.

The “rules are the rules” was the stern message sent Smithfield’s Red Point Taphouse by the town’s Planning Commission and a divided Town Council, which ruled that the South Church Street restaurant and brewery – a wonderful addition to the community’s food and beverage scene – has to either connect to town water at a cost of $30,000 or be shut down for violation of the zoning ordinance.

Given the thin margins on which restaurants operate, Red Point’s closure is a real possibility if the landlords have to pass along the cost to the new operator. Town staff, planning commissioners and council members can feel good about enforcing the rules, we suppose, but at what cost? A dormant building on that now-thriving lot should cause some soul-searching.

A community serious about supporting its small businesses would create an ombudsman position whose full-time responsibility would be helping existing and start-up businesses navigate the bureaucratic red tape that deters investment. Instead, the face of town and county government currently is planners and inspectors who justify their existence by enforcing the rules.

Lastly, if the town’s attitude toward business must be that the “rules are the rules,” it should be consistently applied to the wealthy out-of-town developers whose long lists of zoning exceptions are routinely approved by planning commissioners and elected officials while the little guys are held to a different standard.