All across the US small businesses and customers alike are getting excited for Small Business Saturday this year. Antwerp is going to celebrate Shop Antwerp First on November 23rd, a week before the traditional Small Business Saturday. This is a very important way to support the small businesses in your own towns and communities. Small businesses are often run by friends, family and neighbors that we all know so supporting them is not just a personal thing but it is critical to their success. Local small businesses create jobs, boost the local economy and preserve small town and neighborhoods across the country.
Small Business Saturday was founded in 2010 by American Express as a response to small business owners’ most pressing concern: getting people through their doors, rallying communities to support their local businesses and helping kick of a successful holiday season.
According to the US Chamber of Commerce there are 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S. and they make up 99% of all businesses. Ohio itself has 99,000 small businesses impacting the economy of the state. For the past 20 years, small businesses have accounted for roughly 40% of the United States’ gross domestic output (GDP), which equate to trillions of dollars of economic activity.
According to Connect Our Future – buy local campaign several studies have shown that money spent at a locally owned business stays in the local economy and continues to strengthen the economic base of the community. A 2003 case study in Austin, Texas, showed that local merchants generate substantially greater economic impact than chain retailers. In fact, the study found that for every $100 in consumer spending at a national bookstore in Austin, the local economic impact was only $13. The same amount spent at locally-based bookstores yielded $45, or more than three times the local economic impact.
When you support a local business, you’re also supporting your town, city, and neighborhood by way of paying sales tax. The sales tax money is used to support public schools, parks, roads, and sidewalks, as well as fund public service workers, like firefighters.
Please plan to come out and support Shop Antwerp First in Antwerp on November 23rd. The Welcome Center will be at the VFW beginning at 9:00 where we will have shopping bags filled with goodies, a page of special feature items in the businesses, a chance to win Chamber Bucks with a Scavenger Hunt and a receipt raffle. Watch the West Bend News and The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce Facebook page for more details.
