Small businesses are the beating heart of any small town. Theft disrupts the flow of community balance. Looking through the eyes of NorthStar Wellness owner Raymond Smith, he spoke on behalf of his experience with small-town theft within his business and the effects it has had on him professionally and personally. “As a small-town business, we face a lot of competition from big chains and online retailers who can buy inventory in bulk and sell it at lower prices than we can,” Smith told the Richmond News. “This means we have a smaller profit margin to work with, and any theft from our store hurts us more than it would a big box store.” Richmond Police Chief Scott Bagley gave some statistics for this year. “Statistically speaking, larceny and assault are our two biggest areas of crime. Over the last 10 years we average around 170 thefts a year not counting burglaries and auto thefts. This year as of last month, we are standing at 104 thefts for the year with September through…