Letter to the editor: Support local businesses

Dear friends,

Small Business Saturday is a national holiday celebrating America’s small businesses, started by American Express in 2010. Though Small Business Saturday has come and gone we are still in the midst of the ongoing holiday shopping spree. I urge you all to shop locally.  Not only do you support a local business, but many of our stores such as the Narrow Gauge Book Coop, Treasured Alley, Firedworks Gallery, and Wild Roses contain a wide variety of products from local artists, local authors, and locally produced food items.  So shopping local supports an entire community of people.

Small businesses account for 99.7 percent of all businesses in the US and accounted for 64 percent of new jobs created in the U.S. between 1993 and 2011. If you spend $100 at a local business, roughly $68 stays in your local economy. If you spend the same are a large business, only $43 stays in the local economy (Source: Civic Economics Study in Grand Rapids, Michigan).

Support our community and its businesses. Shop at small local business this holiday season.

Thanks much,

Cath Morin