Small Business Saturday or Shop Small is this Saturday.

Shop small is a national push for everyone to SHOP LOCAL. Local businesses create jobs for our neighbors. Local businesses mean a stronger tax base, which in turn means better public services like schools, transportation, and the essential emergency response personnel for your family. Lawrence County is lucky to have so many unique, local businesses.

Have you ever stopped to think how our area would support themselves without the amazing sponsorship of local businesses? What would our recent Wizardfest do without the support of our local businesses? How about our Memorial Day parade? Think of all the locally-owned businesses that donate time and money to our community. Here are five amazing reasons you should shop local.

• Locally-owned businesses are passionate about what they do. They are your friends and neighbors. You know them and they you. You grew up with them.

• More than half of the U.S. jobs since 1995 were created by small businesses. That is an amazing boost to our economy.

• Local businesses provide better customer service. They order items that are specific to you. Think of the local business knowledge and resources that we have within only a few miles of our homes.

• You are going to feel good. It feels good when you help a neighbor, a friend, a local business owner. That money you spend locally keeps businesses open to you that are close to you and will cater to your needs.

• You know the owners by name. You know the children, parents, and grandparents of everyone in a family-owned local business. They know you. You played sports with them, you are in Rotary, Lions club, or the Elks club with them. You sit with them in church. They give your children treats on Halloween. They are true friends.

Please do The Tribune a favor this Saturday and right through Christmas, take a selfie of yourself shopping local and post it to the Ironton Tribune’s Facebook Page. Use the hashtag #ShopSmall. We will run some of the photos in our newspaper and on our social media sites. We will even pick some of them to win gift cards to, you guessed it-LOCAL businesses.
Shop small, ya’ll.