Shop small, shop local businesses

WHEATLAND – It’s a way to connect with shoppers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Founded by credit card giant American Express in 2010, Small Business Saturday has become an integral part of how many small businesses commence the busiest shopping period of the year. The day comes each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year’s 10th edition of the small business event is Saturday.
Since the event started, consumers have reported spending an estimated $103 billion across all Small Business Saturdays combined, according to surveys commissioned by American Express.

“It’s a way to attract shoppers to businesses within the county,” said Shawna Reichert, executive director of the Platte County Chamber of Commerce. “We’d like to have money spent in Platte County, not in one of the big box stores.”
In 2011 – only the second year of the event – the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of the day, and officials in all 50 states participate. In 2013, more than 1,400 individuals and organizations signed up as Neighborhood Champions – business associations, state and local chambers of commerce and other community organizations who serve as Shop Small ambassadors – to support their local communities with events and activities on that Saturday.
And that number continues to grow. By 2018, there were more than 7,500 Neighborhood Champions across the 50 states. The Platte County Chamber of Commerce will serve as a Neighborhood Champion in 2019.
For every dollar spent at a small business in the U.S., about 67 cents stays in the local community, according to an estimate from data on businesses with fewer than 100 employees, according to an American Express-commissioned 2018 Small Business Economic Impact Study at amex.co/another-reason-shop-small.
The Chamber is also promoting a shop small program where a shopper could win up to $200 in Pride Certificates with the chance to win more prizes.
Visit two Chamber members’ businesses in Platte County and spend $20 or more at each business. The two businesses must be from two of the five different communities in Platte County. Between now and Dec. 20, shoppers can bring in the two receipts from those businesses into the Chamber, located at 65 16th Street in Wheatland, and be entered for a chance to win.
First prize is $200 of Pride Certificates, second prize $100, third prize $60 and fourth prize $40.
For more information about the events, call the Chamber at (307) 322-2322.