Tomorrow is Small Business Saturday, a day the Williamsport Business Association once described as “a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities.”According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses create 1.5 million jobs a year — more than 60% of new jobs created. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce places the number of jobs created by small businesses between 1995 and 2021 at 17.3 million. The economic impact of small businesses — especially in rural communities including much of Lycoming and surrounding counties — is astronomical. “Successful small businesses put money back into their local community through paychecks and taxes, which can support the creation of new small businesses and improve local public services,” Martin Rowinski wrote for Forbes magazine in May of 2022. Small Business Saturday affords us, as consumers entering another holiday shopping season, a chance to support our entrepreneurial neighbors and their vital contributions to our local and regional economies.

Source: Forbes November 24, 2023 08:32 UTC