When you decide to shop at small local businesses, you make the decision to support the community and local jobs.

Shopping at small local businesses is important even if it can mean spending a little more money at times.

Many have had to close down in recent years and more big-name businesses have started taking their places.

I have seen many small businesses and cafes in my community close down in recent years due to decreased patronage, especially following COVID and the social distancing that occurred.

While shopping at big-name businesses such as Walmart can be more convenient, choosing to shop locally at small businesses brings money back to the community rather than large corporations.

In an article on the Forbes website, Joseph Lustberg, CEO of Upwise Capital and a Forbes Council member, said that “by making a commitment to shop local or support small businesses, you cycle money back into your community.”

“The tax revenue made through sale taxes from local businesses support the local government. This is then used to reinvest in the community,” Lustberg said.

He also said that “By choosing to invest money into a large big box chain elsewhere, local communities won’t reap any of the benefits.”

Shopping at local, small businesses also provides local job opportunities and develops a deeper sense of community.

In a 2020 article, the U.S. Department of Commerce said, “Small businesses are essential to our Nation’s communities in creating jobs and giving back during times of prosperity and challenge.”

Owners of these businesses are also members of the community itself making them much more approachable.

They get to know their clients and their needs, and they often desire to give back to the communities that support them.

This allows local business owners to produce and sell products that are tailored to the community they serve.

A post by the University of Alabama at Birmingham Collat School of Business said, “Small-business owners treasure the relationships they have with all of their customers.”

“Because these small businesses need the support of local consumers, you can expect to get friendly, personal customer service,” it said.

The post also said that local business owners “enjoy getting to know their customers, since they’re all an important part of the community they serve.”

Shopping locally also helps reduce the carbon footprint because less shipping and transportation are involved.

In the previously mentioned article by Lustberg, he also said that “local small business tends to make more local purchases, which requires less transportation.”

“Additionally, since they are set up in a town or city, it will generally reduce traffic, habitat loss and resource depletion,” Lustberg said.

Choosing to support local businesses is a choice to support someone’s dream. It may even be the dreams of someone you know. Or perhaps it is a friend of someone you know.

They rely on us, the community, to support them or else they fail.

Small, local businesses are often called the backbone of the economy for a reason and we as a community and college students should make an effort to support them.