District Director It’s no secret that small businesses struggled through the pandemic, and some are still struggling with the affects of the pandemic – higher input costs, changing consumer habits and higher labor costs, if they can even find the workers. Sort of long haul COVID for businesses.

However, the resiliency of small businesses should never be underestimated. For many entrepreneurs, their can-do attitude is what motivated them to start their business in the first place and that same attitude is what helped them pivot and persevere through the pandemic.

Small Business Saturday was created to help small businesses capture a larger piece of consumer spending during the holiday season. This year, Small Business Saturday is on Nov. 26 and will mark the 13th year Americans have increased their efforts to support our hometown small businesses.

According to American Express, last year shoppers came together in full force to support their local communities, and Small Business Saturday hit a record high with an estimated $23.3 billion in reported spending at independent retailers and restaurants.

Let’s keep up the momentum — small businesses still need our support now more than ever as they continue to fight the long-term effects of the pandemic and transition to stable, steady growth.

America’s 33 million small businesses, 75,000 of them from North Dakota representing 98.8 percent of all ND firms, need our help to “Shop Small” throughout this holiday season and on Small Business Saturday. Please join me by shopping at your local small business and dining at an independently owned restaurant during the holiday season and all year long.