West Chester’s Best Trait

West Chester’s small business community is made up of a cornucopia of business styles, a vast spectrum of personalities and a wide array of personal stories. While just about everyone has an opinion on most of our goings-ons in town, nearly all agree that West Chester’s business owners and residents are at the heart of our experience here. In a small town such as ours, we all benefit when our local merchants and service providers can make payroll or expand a product line. As neighbors, whether you agree on borough council’s latest decision or not, we all come together to support and spend our dollars in this quintessential Pennsylvania small town we call home.

This past New Years Eve a friend asked me what it is that I like best about West Chester. There were so many reasons, I found that I needed to spend a little time narrowing down my answer. Having called 8 other places home I actually surprised myself. My list includes some large cities and some small towns that make West Chester look like a metropolis; San Francisco, Tampa, Boston, Brooklyn, Berkeley, Cape Cod, Wilmington and upstate New York. I realized that while West Chester is not as diverse a population as San Francisco, Brooklyn or Tampa and is not as pristine and quaint as Osterville, Cape Cod, or Piedmont, CA, it is a place focused intensely on our community. We are not all alike in West Chester, yet we must co-exist and we do so with civility. We are primarily comprised of good natured and hard working citizens who will step up and take a stand for what we feel is right and yet, seeing as we may find that ourselves across the aisle from our barber or our accountant, we (by and large) behave our selves.

West Chester is by no means perfect, but ours is a community of earnest people trying hard to make their contribution to its success. Some say that it isn’t the easiest place to break into but one way to get better connected is to join a group who is working to improve West Chester in some way, or, better yet, start something new that is close to your heart. Whether your efforts focus on a solely humanitarian project or a new business venture, your contribution will add to the textured fabric of West Chester’s diverse offerings. We need efforts that stimulate economic growth just as much as we need projects that are more philanthropic in nature. Turning your passion into a financial pursuit or a non-profit service is good for your soul and for our community. West Chester’s residents contribute to our socioeconomic blueprint and make us a stronger healthier community, we truly do buy locally, invest locally and help our community to grow locally. I find this to be our finest trait. If you are looking to start a business, the West Chester LLC may be able to supply a portion of the capital you need to get started or at the very least introduce you to other potential partners.