Senator Suzi Oppenheimer (D-Mamaroneck) urges consumers to support small businesses as they head to the stores this holiday season. “Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy and the engine of job creation in New York,” said Oppenheimer. Noting that Saturday, November 26th has been designated the second annual Small Business Saturday®, Oppenheimer hopes that shoppers will support their neighborhood stores on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.
Oppenheimer, who recently hosted her 20th Small Business conference, emphasized the critical importance of small business to the State’s economic recovery. “Small businesses comprise 98% of all business in New York and employ more than half of the State’s private sector work force. Numerous studies have shown that new and expanding small businesses play a disproportionately large role in job creation and innovation.” Indeed, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses have generated 65% of new net jobs over the past two decades.
Small businesses, moreover, are a boost to the local economy. According to The 3/50 Project, a small business advocacy group, of every $100 spent in locally-owned independent stores, $68 is returned to the community in local taxes, payroll and other expenditures.
Equally important, “local businesses form the character of our communities,” said Oppenheimer. “The people who own these businesses are our neighbors and our friends. So please make it a point to patronize your local merchants this holiday season. We will all be the better for it.”
