From todays Rocky Mount Telegram. Please share with your friends tonight, and join your community for #SmallBusinessSaturday tomorrow #shopsmall By Corey Davis, Telegram Staff Writer A movement started a few years ago encourages residents to patronize small, locally owned brick-and-mortar businesses during the holiday shopping weekend. Small Business Saturday was conceived and promoted by American Express in November 2010 as a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which features big-box retail and e-commerce stores, respectively. The day is a national initiative aimed at supporting small businesses during one of the year’s biggest shopping weekends. American Express Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Chenault said small businesses are responsible for 50 percent of the jobs in the private workforce, creating two-thirds of the net new jobs over the last 20 years. “The reality is small businesses are really the backbone of the American economy,” Chenault said. Melanie Wilder, owner of Davis Furniture Co., said Small Business Saturday still has not resonated with the masses in the community. She hopes as it continues to build steam, businesses such as hers and others downtown and throughout Rocky Mount will garner more support. “The concept is still new, and a lot of people around here still don’t know about it,” Wilder said. “We hope as people are shopping this weekend that they remember to commit to buying locally.” Clint Williams, a member of the Rocky Mount Area of Chamber of Commerce Small Business Committee, helped launched a marketing campaign called Shop Local in 2006. Williams said small and independent businesses are overshadowed. The locally owned businesses likely are family run, with more personalized service and significantly more money recirculating when purchases are made locally, Williams said. “Customer service is usually better and local businesses are staffed with local residents who live in our community and are more invested in the community’s future,” Williams said. In addition, Williams explained the benefits of buying local, including 2.25 percent of local sales tax revenue that is returned to the county where the sale is made to support local schools and county services. Local businesses also provide jobs for family members and neighbors and often flexible scheduling options. Nonprofit groups receive greater support and money is kept in the community because local businesses purchase from other local businesses. Kristen Brabble, corporate officer of First Carolina Bank, helped organized a Small Business Saturday campaign with the Chamber’s Small Business Committee. She said Rocky Mount has an obligation to support locally owned businesses because they offer jobs and services to the needs of the community. “It affects the local economy by keeping over 60 percent of the profits made by local businesses within the community,” Brabble said. “This allows us to offer more parks for children, more farmers markets for locally grown food, more clothing that caters to specific needs during specific weather and more opportunities for the individual to succeed in their job,” Brabble said. Brabble said local businesses also offer employees a chance to become more versatile on the job. “Employees of larger corporations find it harder to move up the ladder,” she said. “They often stay within their same job, doing the same things year after year. “However, a local business allows employees to specialize and grow. They are often cross trained to handle a larger workload.” In contrast to larger businesses with more advertising dollars, small, locally owned businesses usually aren’t equipped with those resources. “Oftentimes, locally owned businesses cannot afford the same marketing as larger corporations,” Brabble said. “They don’t have as many billboards, newspaper ads, or TV commercials. I don’t think the community is hesitant. Our community is less aware of local businesses. However, some may be hesitant because they don’t know how the locally owned business’s work will compete with the commercial business. “The best thing a locally owned business can do for itself it is to market,” Brabble said. “They need to get a Facebook page and other social media, create a website and have current customers give testimonials that can be shared with the public. As word spreads, so will interest in the business. If people can’t find the local businesses or they can’t find out what they’re all about, they’re going to go to the place they do know. The chain store that only sees them as money makers, rather than taking a genuine interest in your needs.”
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 00:40:43 +0000
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