2020 Small Business Saturday
Support Mississippi’s Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs by Shopping Small
On Saturday, November 28th
by
Janita R. Stewart, District Director, U.S. Small Business Administration, Mississippi
This coming Thursday is Thanksgiving, and I believe each of us has something, perhaps many things, for which to be thankful. After Thanksgiving comes
Black Friday and the following week will be kicked off with Cyber Monday. In between these days is what has come to be known as “Small Business Saturday” (SBS).
For eleven years now, the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been recognized as SBS. This year has been an especially challenging year for all of us,
and particularly for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Kicking off this holiday season with shopping, SBS gives us the opportunity to purchase
local by supporting independently owned small businesses within our 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 over 262,000 small businesses in Mississippi and 99.3% of
all businesses are considered small. There is no doubt that small businesses are crucial 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 and patronize the entrepreneurs
and small businesses that work hard every single day and during this year of 2020, the burden was even heavier. Together, we could lighten their
load.
Please join us in recognizing SBS on Saturday, November 28th. 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 have 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.