With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, the North Carolina Community College System’s Small Business Center Network (SBCN), which includes Forsyth Technical Community College’s Small Business Center, encourages you to #ShopSmall and support your local small businesses on Saturday, November 24, 2018.
Nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday® has quickly become a nationally recognized day to support local independent merchants with the power of local dollars.
“Small Business Saturday is a celebration of local businesses,” says Allan Younger, director of the Small Business Center at Forsyth Tech. “I am privileged to work with so many outstanding small business owners. Their commitment and ability to provide great customers service is strengthened by their personal connection to our community.”
Small Business Saturday® was founded by American Express in 2010 as a day to celebrate local businesses through the holiday shopping season. The day has since grown into a powerful movement in support of local small businesses every day and everywhere.
According to American Express, 2017 drew an estimated 108 million consumers reported shopping or dining at local small businesses on Small Business Saturday®, generating approximately 12 billion dollars in spending.
The Small Business Administration notes that Small Businesses comprise 99.9 percent of all firms in the U.S. marketplace and have accounted for 66 percent of net new jobs from 2000-2017. The SBA defines a small business as an independent business with 500 or less employees.
Small Business Saturday® is an opportunity to support the local small businesses that provide economic vitality and quality of life to communities. The SBNC encourages shopping local and shopping small on #SmallBizSat, November 24. Help make a lasting impact in the place you call home, #shopsmall Small Business Saturday.
About the Small Business Center Network
The mission of the NC Community Colleges Small Business Center Network (SBCN) is to increase the success rate and number of viable small businesses in North Carolina by providing high quality, readily accessible assistance to prospective and existing small business owners, which will lead to job creation and retention. The SBCN assists in starting an average of more than 700 businesses each year. Small Business Centers have an economic impact in 90 percent of all NC counties each year, including helping to create and retain over 3,600 jobs annually.
About Forsyth Tech
Forsyth Technical Community College provides students with guided educational pathways into a competitive workforce for the community and global economy. The college offers associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates in more than 200 programs of study, including programs that promote personal and professional development through non-credit courses and seminars, as well as customized training for business and industry. Forsyth Tech is the seventh largest community college in North Carolina and serves more than 35,000 students with approximately 1,500 full and part-time faculty and staff. For additional information, please visit forsythtech.edu and follow Forsyth Tech on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
