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From Evanston Main Street… Celebrate “Small Business Saturday” by visiting your favorite locally owned small businesses on Saturday, November 24th. Top five reasons to support a small business on Small Business Saturday. 1. Buying local creates jobs: As the old saying goes, everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Well, the same could be said for jobs. We all want more jobs, but no one seems to be able to create them. But buying local is YOUR chance to do something about it. Did you know that half of all employees in the U.S. work for small business, and that small businesses create 60% of all new jobs? Buy local, create a job. 2. Small business fosters community: What is a community, anyway? It is a group of people with something in common. If you go downtown, the community you will find is one of small business owners. When a downtown has a bustling small business district, it is usually said there is a strong community. By buying local then, and supporting your neighborhood small business, you are fostering a strong community in your community. 3. Buying local keeps the dream alive: A small business is someone’s dream. Being a small business owner is a risky enterprise. By supporting small business, you are allowing someone to live the dream another day. 4. Buying local boosts your local economy: There is an economic ripple effect that occurs when you support a small business. First of all, it fosters jobs; the owner needs to hire people to service his customers. The economic ripple goes far beyond that. There are the employees with money in their pocket; they spend that money with other small businesses. Moreover, there is the business owner with profit in her pocket. She spends that on buying more goods to sell, on taking care of her family, and on growing her business. Then, there is the business. That business pays taxes, which helps build roads and fund schools and the police. Buying local creates an economic cycle that helps everyone. ---PAGE BREAK--- 5. Buying local creates a ripple in society: When you support a local small business, it is like throwing a pebble into a still pond. It creates a concentric circle that starts small and then ripples out bigger and bigger.