Shopping Small Makes a Big Impact

June 17-21 is National Small Business Week, so here is your official reminder of why you should shop small now and in the future.

1. Within the Downtown area of Middletown, approximately 95 per cent of businesses are considered small businesses, meaning they employ fewer than 50 people. In fact, about 60 per cent of the businesses in this area employ fewer than five people. That means that small business success is absolutely critical to the economy of downtown Middletown. By shopping at big retailers and chain dining establishments, you are taking money away from your own town and sending it elsewhere where your own economy will not benefit from it.
2. Locally owned businesses support local causes. Not only is shopping and dining locally important to the economy, these businesses care about the things that you care about – causes that are important to your own neighborhood and area. Supporting businesses locally supports these causes too.
3. Let’s face it, businesses have power over local decision making. When those business owners do not live locally, they may not make the same decision you would as a resident of a certain town. By supporting local businesses, you support their power in decision making, thereby improving the chances that such decisions will be relevant to those who live in the communities affected by these decisions.
4. Jobs! We all know how important jobs are, and we all know how increasingly difficult it is becoming to find a job. Small businesses support the economy by hiring locally and providing wages for local people.
5. Supporting small business also encourages entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship is what this country was founded upon. Innovation and entrepreneurship leads to prosperity for a nation and community, and improves the chances for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.
6. Small business also helps more small businesses, like the shop that sells locally made jewelry and candles or the restaurant the uses locally made cheeses, rather than purchasing from other big corporations.
7. Small business is good for the environment by encouraging sustainable, walkable town centers, reduce urban sprawl, limit automobile use and sell items that require less transportation for deliveries.
8. Small business supports diversity of products. When entering a small shop, you never know what creativity you’ll find. You may discover a new toy, a unique scent, a tantalizing flavor or unusual design. Allowing diversity in business by allowing small business to thrive encourages this diversity.