While the Black Friday shopping frenzy is already well underway, the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration in Iowa is hoping for a carry-over into tomorrow for Small Business Saturday.
Jayne Armstrong, director of the SBA’s Iowa District Office, says local merchants put great importance on the economic impact of the tenth annual Shop Small promotion.
“All of them are our relatives, they’re our spouses and our neighbors and children,” Armstrong says. “It just brings it home that we should keep the money in the community, support your local small business community and really make an effort to look at what’s right in your own back yard.”
Many of our nation’s big corporations were launched with help from loans through the SBA, companies like Apple, Nike, Ben & Jerry’s, FedEx and Under Armour.
“They all started small, everybody forgets that,” Armstrong says. “Every small business in America started around a kitchen table, in a garage, with an entrepreneur and a dream. That’s what Small Business Saturday is all about, recognizing how important small business is to our economy and to make it a part of your shopping culture.”
Ninety-seven percent of the businesses in Iowa are small businesses, according to Armstrong. If you can’t shop as many of them as you’d like to in person on Saturday, she notes most of them have an online presence, so log on.
“A lot of small businesses are much more savvy today with the competition they have from some of the large retailers that are online,” Armstrong says. “Many small businesses are using social media in a more productive way to increase sales.”
Small Business Saturday was founded in 2010 as a day to rally communities to support small businesses during the busy holiday shopping season and to help address small business owners’ most pressing need: getting more customers through their doors.