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2021 Small Business Saturday
Support Mississippi’s Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs by Shopping Small
On Saturday, November 27th
by
Janita R. Stewart, District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration, Mississippi
Thanksgiving is a most notable holiday, and perhaps each of us has something – perhaps many things – for which to be thankful. Right on the heels of Thanksgiving Day is Black Friday and the following week will be kicked off with Cyber Monday. In between is what has come to be known as “Small Business Saturday” (SBS).
With the holiday season just around the corner and with small businesses everywhere positioning themselves to serve a post-COVID shopping landscape coupled with consumers being poised to return to brick-and-mortar stores in force this holiday selling season – local mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, and service providers can maximize this opportunity by participating in SBS.
Both 2020 and 2021 have been especially challenging for all of us, and suffice it to say, the challenges small businesses faced were and continue to be at an entirely different level. Kicking off this holiday season with shopping, SBS gives all of us the opportunity to purchase local by supporting independently owned small businesses within our very own communities. We are encouraging small businesses to use SBS to help drive more traffic to their businesses – whether it is by the traditional means of visiting their brick and mortar retail stores, restaurants and more (doing it safely, of course) or, on-line to their websites. Whichever means by which you choose to shop throughout this holiday season, please consider shopping local.
Choosing to shop local could result in a significant economic impact for our communities and would transcend throughout our state with increased revenues, expanding the tax base and maintaining employment at these small businesses. There are 32.5 million small businesses in the nation with over 264,000 of them in Mississippi accounting for 99.3% of all businesses being small in our state. There is no doubt that small businesses are critical to the national and this state’s economy.
As this holiday season gets underway, each of us has a choice to make so please choose to support the local economy. Doing so patronizes the entrepreneurs and small businesses that have worked hard every single day throughout this challenging year when the burden continued to be heavy. Together, we could lighten their load.
Please join us in recognizing SBS on Saturday, November 27th. One last thing to consider – make it a practice to shop small not only on SBS but also throughout the entire year! That would undoubtedly demonstrate a real impact on small businesses which truly are the backbone of this nation’s and Mississippi’s economy! Happy Thanksgiving!
For more information about SBA and its programs and services, please visit www.sba.gov/ms.
MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.
