WS Chronicle

In Photo: North Carolina Community College Small Business Center Network
Special to The Chronicle

With the holiday shopping season upon us, the North Carolina Community College Small Business Center Network (SBCN), which includes Forsyth Tech’s Small Business Center, is encouraging communities to support local small businesses on Saturday, November 28, and to use #ShopSmallForAll on social media.
Nestled between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday® has quickly become a nationally recognized day to support local independent merchants.

The Winston Salem Black Chamber of Commerce is also urging the support of small businesses on that day. The Chamber is providing a tour of its members’ businesses.

“Statistics show that more jobs are created through small businesses than big businesses,” says Allan Younger, director of the Small Business Center at Forsyth Tech. “Here at the Small Business Center, we serve hundreds of potential and existing small business owners each year—and that number is growing. A community that supports its small businesses is a community that can thrive economically.”

Small Business Saturday® was founded by American Express in 2010 as a day to celebrate local businesses through the launch of the holiday shopping season. The day has since grown into a powerful movement in support of local small businesses that make communities unique.
Consumer spending with independent retailers and restaurants during the 2014 Small Business Saturday® neared $14.3 billion according to the results of a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), with a total of 88 million consumers shopping “small” on the day, up 14.9% from 2013.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that more than 50 percent of the working population works in a small business. A small business is defined by the Small Business Administration as one with 500 or fewer employees. Small businesses generated more than 63 percent of new jobs between 1995 and 2013.

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% of all NC counties each year, including helping to create and retain over 3,600 jobs annually.

About the Black Chamber of Commerce tour

The Winston-Salem Black Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a Shop Small Business Tour from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28. The 32-passenger bus will leave from The Enterprise Center, 1922 Martin Luther King Jr Dr. , and stop at the local businesses of the members of the Winston-Salem Black Chamber of Commerce. The cost for the trip is $20 per person.

If you would like your business to be included on The Small Business Bus Tour, call 336-575-2006 for more information.