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This is the season for giving thanks, so I’d like to thank Ohio’s small businesses for everything they do throughout the year to help our communities.
Chain stores are owned by big corporations based someplace else, but small businesses are owned and operated by our friends and neighbors. They create jobs, sponsor our kids’ soccer teams, and give money to local charities. Small businesses make our communities stronger.
I believe we should show our thanks by supporting these Main Street businesses on Small Business Saturday.
Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is a day to support local businesses.
These independent shops and restaurants are facing the same challenges as the larger national chains, but they aren’t sitting on piles of cash to get them through the difficult times. Small businesses operate on notoriously thin profit margins. Usually, the person who signs the checks is the same person who empties the trash and locks up at night. Small businesses are hanging in there, but without our support, some of them might not be around next Christmas, and we can’t afford to let that happen.
Small business is the heart and soul of Ohio’s economy. Big corporations might get most of the headlines, but over 99% of all businesses in the state are small businesses which employ nearly 45% of the state’s private-sector workforce.
Small Business Saturday is the perfect time to express our gratitude.
Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 as part of a marketing scheme to help small businesses recover from the Great Recession. Since then, it’s taken on a life of its own. Last year, Americans spent an estimated $17.9 billion on Small Business Saturday. Best of all, 72% of people surveyed said Small Business Saturday makes them want to support local shops and restaurants throughout the year.
When we shop small and support local businesses, we’re helping the family businesses that support our schools and civic organizations and hold our communities together.
Shopping small also makes our communities strong. It’s estimated that 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in the community. What’s more, every dollar spent at a small business creates an additional 50 cents in local business activity as employers and their employees shop at other local businesses.
That’s why I’m encouraging everyone to shop small on Saturday, Nov. 25. Because the truth is when we help small businesses, we help everyone.
Chris Ferruso is the Ohio director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
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