By Maureen E. Brinkley, District Director, SBA St. Louis District Office and Acting Regional Administrator, SBA Region 7 Serving Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska
The COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on all of us, but it’s been especially hard on small business owners. Over the last eighteen months they’ve faced closures, capacity limits, labor shortages, higher shipping costs, and products shortages. Some of their clients were out of work. Many of these issues continue to plague our small businesses. Conversely, many big box and online retailers thrived during the pandemic and made record profits. Consumers changed their shopping and eating habits in response to COVID protocols and some of those changes may never reverse.
However, those small businesses are still important to all of us. They are important to our local and national economies. Small businesses add more jobs overall than large businesses. Small business owners support youth sports and community events. They are the members of our Chambers of Commerce. They are the reason people move to and stay in an area. When we are sharing things we love about our community, we don’t talk about the chain restaurant or the large retailer. We talk about that taco joint our family loves. We talk about a cute little boutique or a comic book and trading card store. We talk about our hairdressers who do such a great job. We discuss establishments that make our towns and cities unique. We have a vested interest in their success.
How can we help those small business owners thrive? Shop small. Frequent local eateries. Purchase local produce. Small business Saturday is November 27, and we urge you to shop small on that date, but don’t stop there. Commit to local shopping and eating. Commit to your community. Maybe that local business will turn into the next big thing and we’ll have to find a different small business to support.
* Check out the Missouri Small Business Profile from SBA’s Office of Advocacy for more information about Missouri small businesses.
If you have a question about an EIDL Loan or EIDL Advance/Targeted Advance please contact SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance Customer Service. They can be reached at 833-853-5638 or DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov.