November 22, 2021
Lee Evancho
Small Business Saturday is November 27, 2021 in Jacksonville. This is an opportunity to support the local businesses that keep our economy going. It is also a time to get a head start on Christmas shopping!
Talking with Jacksonville Public information Officer, Ben Nunnally, he stated that “Small Business Saturday, is a good opportunity to be introduced to local businesses. Business owners would love every Saturday to be small business Saturday! Take this opportunity to get out of a box box store and go to the Shabby Stick for your home decor options, grab a coffee at RedBirds, or dig into a plate of tacos at Heirloom Taco. This can be a signal to go out and maybe you will find a treasure or new favorite store or restaurant.
Councilman Andy Green wanted all to understand that, “Communities of all sizes have been built and sustained by small businesses. Moreover, each one of our small businesses has a story to tell and when we shop small, we carry their story forward. While some of them have been in existence for generations, others are recent openings. No matter their established date, they display a community spirit of commerce – a foundation for the City of Jacksonville for nearly 200 years.”
Councilwoman Sherry Laster is a small business owner in Jacksonville and wanted to share the importance of working together and getting the community excited, “Small businesses are integral parts of local economies, helping to create webs of financial interdependence that foster broad-based prosperity. When you spend money at a privately owned local store, that money goes to pay a worker in your neighborhood, who, in turn, is likely to spend money at another neighborhood business. The more that small businesses leverage their potential to support each other, the greater their capacity to create a thriving local business community. I love my career in the beauty industry and love to share what I have learned over the years to younger entrepreneurs in the industry. Building relationships and business owners working together in the community. This mutual support is also useful during hard times. If a local business is struggling, community members can bond together to help the struggling business get back on its feet through crowd-funding campaigns or old-fashioned word of mouth . It is difficult to imagine a large corporation generating this type of energy and support.”
Councilman Coty Galloway grew up watching his family run small businesses. He saw the effort and reward of having a small business and supporting them, “I know the importance of small businesses. My grandparents and mom were small business owners. I personally experienced the ups and downs of small business ownerships. It is very important to have regular customers that support you.”
We often reminisce about our favorite stores of the past, but small businesses are still here now. They need our support to stay alive. Supporting them also encourages other business to come into the local economy. Small businesses owners are our neighbors, our friends, and the ones we shop next to on a regular basis. This isn’t a once a year thing to do. This is a way to support local year round. Lets’s remember to shop local here in Jacksonville and in all our cities!
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