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Small Business is the Heartbeat of the US Economy
Source: U.S. Small Businesses Administration
Small firms:

• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
• Employ just over half of all private sector employees.
• Pay 44 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 64 percent of net new jobs over the past 15 years.
• Create more than 50 percent of nonfarm private gross domestic product (GDP).

Consumers Shop Main Street to Save Their Local Economies
Source: The American Express OPEN Small Business Saturday Consumer Pulse (July 2011)

• 93%  of US consumers believe it’s important to support the local small businesses that they value in their community
• 87% believe that small businesses are a critical element of the overall U.S. economic health
• 89% agree that locally-owned, independent businesses contribute positively through taxes and jobs
• 73% consciously shop at small businesses in their community because they do not want them to go away

Small Business is the Golden Ticket to Job and Income Growth
Source: American Express OPEN Independent Retail Index (September 2011)

If independents regained their 1990 market shares, entrepreneurs could create 200,000 new small businesses, generate nearly $300 billion in revenues in the retail and restaurant sectors and employ more than 1.6 million American workers.

Buy Local Campaigns Boost Small Business Sales
Source: Institute for Local Self-Reliance

• Independent retailers that are in communities with a “buy local” initiative reported revenue growth of 5.6% on average in 2010, compared to 2.1% for those elsewhere.
• Independent retailers that are in communities with a “buy local” initiative saw a 5.2% increase in holiday sales in 2010, while those elsewhere reported an average gain of 0.8%. 
• More than half (55%) of business owners that live in cities with an active “buy local” initiative said that the campaign made existing customers more loyal.