Small Business Saturday celebrates the backbone of America

If you have a television or subscribe to a newspaper, then you’ve heard of Black Friday. And if you're an avid web surfer, you've probably also heard of Cyber Monday. But, did you know that today--the Saturday after Thanksgiving--is Small Business Saturday?

To help give America's small businesses a healthy boost to the holiday season, President Obama is encouraging everyone to visit or shop today at local small businesses. And those of us who serve in this Administration are jumping in with both feet.

Local small businesses like Peoria's Main Street Jeweler know what local residents want.
Photo courtesy Fred Zwicky, Peoria Journal-Star

Earlier today, I visited my favorite spots in my hometown of Peoria. As I do every year, I stopped in at Peoria Camera to order our family holiday card, where they have a ton of designs for us to choose from. The folks there always help us pick just the right card, and today was no different. Thanks, guys!

From there, I visited some of the other stores at Peoria's Metro Centre. Metro Centre is a shopping center that really lives up to its motto, "By Peoria, For Peoria." From the camera shop to Holmes Shoes--an Illinois tradition since 1887--the small businesses at Metro Centre are run by Peorians who know what Peorians want.

At the Spotted Cow with Vice President Biden in April 2010

Of course, no trip to Peoria is complete without a cup of coffee or a scoop or two of ice cream at the Spotted Cow or a shoeshine at George's, two very popular small businesses here.

From the mom-and-pop storefronts that anchor Main Street to the high-tech startups that keep America on the cutting edge, small businesses are the backbone of our economy. These businesses create two out of every three new jobs in America, helping spur economic development in communities across our country and giving millions of families and individuals the opportunity to achieve the American dream.

George Manias of George's Shoeshine shows Vice President Biden how it's been done for 63 years.

And hopefully, the small businesses that hire new workers will get a payroll tax cut. Expanding and extending the payroll tax cut in the American Jobs Act is an important opportunity to help small businesses reinvest their revenue into growing their business.

President Obama is committed to helping small businesses drive our economy toward recovery and long-term growth. He has already signed into law 18 tax cuts for small businesses, including large tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans as part of the American Jobs Act.

But Small Business Saturday is a day when all of us can support the small businesses that create jobs, boost the local economy, and help define our neighborhoods. And when you spend a buck at a local business, that money goes right back into your local economy.

So, let’s all do our part to help our country’s small businesses do what they do best: offer the goods and services we want, grow their businesses, and create the jobs America needs.

Comments

[ms posh]

It's so good to see Peoria highlighted.
This is an important day.

[Cee Yuin]

Consumer confidence is more important to small business than tax cuts and that is what is missing right now. Without customers small business is not going to invest in expansion which in turn will not provide the extra jobs required to get Americans back to work. When you factor in the credit squeeze it is all just a vicious cycle.