The Herndon Town Council wants to move forward with creating a new advisory committee focused on the small business community.

The committee would focus on developing recommendations from the town’s recent business survey, which highlighted the business community’s desire for more support from the town.

Councilmember Kevin LeBlanc introduced the recommendation at a council work session on Tuesday (Oct. 17) in response to the findings.

Respondents to the survey, conducted by Priority Metrics Group (PMG), said they would like to see the town have more business-focused events, such as networking, promotional, or informational sessions. LeBlanc said that would be the focal point of the committee.

“I feel like it’s really important that we do something that’s kind of immediate to show that we’re acting on the results,” LeBlanc said.

According to a town staff memo, the committee will have six to eight representatives of small businesses based in Herndon, and it will be in place for six months or until the recommendations are provided. The group’s job will be to “provide prioritized recommendations with details and analysis of cost/approach specific to events the town can provide or support in collaboration with other groups,” the document states.

Councilmember Donielle Scherff supported the idea of the committee, saying it would benefit the council in multiple ways, even if she feels it doesn’t go far enough.

“We get the benefit of the experience and the background of those who are serving on each individual subcommittee or committee,” she said. “And then they get our immediate attention so that there is no lapse and we are responsive.”

Councilmember Cesar del Aguila also voiced support for the idea, noting that there were “a lot of actionable items” in the survey.

“I think we pick one or two and put resources to it — let’s show that we are committed,” Aguila said.

The next steps include identifying a town council member to serve on the committee and selecting other people to be on the committee. However, the timeline is unclear, as the council said it would need legal advice on how to put the committee together.

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