Does Amazon buy the jerseys for your daughter’s soccer team or sponsor your son’s Little League team? Does Amazon founder Jeff Bezos spend a lot of money at your church’s bake sale, get cookies from your favorite Girl Scout or buy your nephew’s 4H steer? Does he put money in the red kettle when you are ringing the bell?
No, the people who do all those things — and more — are your friends and neighbors who own, operate or are employed by local businesses. And while not everyone is or can be in retail, those local shops and stores form the backbone of a community, economically and socially. They deserve our support.
That should start with Black Friday. Locally offered merchandise is high quality and local deals can be just as attractive as anything online. Plus, there is the added benefit of actual, in-person service.
Shopping locally means buyer can try on the merchandise, examine it for themselves and really get the feel of it. There is no guessing about whether the screen accurately shows the color or whether their idea of “medium” or “large” approximates your own.
But there is no reason it should end with Black Friday. On the contrary, Nov. 28 has been designated Small Business Saturday as a way to recognize the contribution of small businesses to local communities. It is an effort worthy of broad support.
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, is a co-founder of the Congressional Small Business Caucus. He is also a co-sponsor of a House resolution backing Small Business Saturday and encouraging “consumers to shop locally; and to increase awareness of the value of locally owned small businesses and the impact of locally owned small businesses on the economy of the United States.”
Tipton, a small business owner himself, says, “The driving force behind healthy, vibrant and thriving local economies, small businesses create the vast majority of new jobs in this country and provide opportunities for millions of families to prosper and achieve the American dream.”
But beyond the employment and economic aspects, is the influence local businesses have on the very fabric of towns and neighborhoods. Tipton again, “Shopping small is a sure way to find unique, high quality items, and it’s a great opportunity to show support for neighbors and strengthen the community.”
Dollars spent locally do not go straight into the gas tank of someone’s Ferrari in Silicon Valley. They eventually leave town, but before they do they get recycled through other local business as well as local charities, churches and civic groups. And the sales tax revenue they generate supports local government, parks and roads.
Local spending — “shopping small” as Tipton says — supports all of us.
