Why Small Businesses Matter and Why Your Support Counts
- Zel McGhee
- Nov 24
- 8 min read
By, Manzel McGhee Jr., ASBC | America's SBDC at Texas Tech University - Abilene
The Heart of the American Story
Small businesses have always held a unique place in the American story. They are the first storefronts on Main Street, the quiet innovators working out of shared offices, the family-owned services that remember your name, and the creators whose work shapes the culture of a community.
Yet beyond the sentiment, small businesses play a measurable, powerful role in the strength and stability of the American economy. As we approach Small Business Saturday on November 29, it is worth taking a moment to look at the impact these businesses make, and why your support directly affects the future of your community.
Small Businesses as Job Creators
When people think of job creation, they often picture big corporations. The data tells a different story. Small businesses employ almost half of all private-sector workers in the United States, even though most operate with fewer than twenty employees.
These employers offer opportunities that might not exist otherwise, especially in rural areas, smaller cities, or specialized industries. They provide first jobs, second chances, flexible schedules, and workplace cultures shaped by real relationships.
Every time a local business grows enough to hire one more person, that improvement ripples outward: a family gains stability, skillsets expand, and the local tax base strengthens.
A Source of Innovation and Agility
Some of the most creative and practical ideas start inside small businesses. Because they move quickly, listen closely to their customers, and adapt without layers of bureaucracy, they often serve as the testing ground for new products, services, and technologies.
When someone supports a small business, they are investing in the possibility of new solutions tailored to local needs, an environment where creativity is rewarded and where entrepreneurs take risks many large firms avoid.
Innovation, in this context, is not only about technology. It is also about better ways of serving people, solving everyday problems, and building trust at the community level.
The Local Circulation of Dollars
One of the most overlooked impacts of supporting small businesses is the way money moves through the local economy. When residents purchase locally, more of each dollar stays in the community.
Those dollars cycle through local suppliers, local payrolls, and local services. Employees spend what they earn at nearby businesses. Entrepreneurs use profits to expand their operations, improve property, or hire additional staff.
Local governments see more stable revenues, which support schools, infrastructure, and public programs. Unlike revenue that flows out of state or out of the country, local spending strengthens the economic heartbeat of a region.
Building the Character of a Community
The character of a city also lives and breathes within its small businesses. Big-box stores do not create the unique personality of a place, people do.
Coffee shops, bakeries, repair shops, boutiques, barbers, food trucks, and independent service providers give a city its texture and identity.
Many small business owners are also volunteers, mentors, donors, and active supporters of local initiatives. Their presence reinforces the cultural threads that make a town feel like home.
When residents support them, they are not just buying goods or services, they are sustaining the character of their own community.
The Meaning Behind Small Business Saturday
This is why Small Business Saturday matters. The event, held every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is more than a shopping occasion. It is a reminder of the influence consumers have when they choose where to spend their money.
By supporting local businesses on November 29, people help stores stay open, help families maintain jobs, and encourage resilience in their community.
It only takes a small purchase, a shared social media post, or a simple recommendation to make a meaningful difference.
Small Business Saturday is, at its core, a celebration of entrepreneurs who keep moving forward despite economic uncertainty, shifting markets, or unexpected challenges. Your support helps them continue doing work that benefits everyone.
The Scale of Small Businesses in America
Understanding the scale of small business in America adds even more weight to this discussion. Despite the prominence of national corporations, the overwhelming majority of American businesses are small, more than 99 percent of all firms fall into this category.
This includes nearly thirty-five million entities when both employer and non-employer firms are counted. Many are microbusinesses, operating with a single owner and no paid staff.
These firms collectively generate immense economic activity and sustain entire regions. They occupy every imaginable niche, forming dense networks of suppliers, contractors, specialists, professionals, and creative innovators.
Removing small businesses from the economic equation would fundamentally collapse the American economy. They are not merely participants, they are the system itself.
Texas: A State Powered by Small Business
Texas illustrates this point clearly. As one of the largest and most economically diverse states in the country, Texas is often associated with global companies, major energy corporations, and expansive corporate campuses.
Yet more than ninety-eight percent of Texas businesses are classified as small under federal definitions. These firms employ millions of Texans and drive both rural and metropolitan economies.
They anchor local tax bases, support public schools, and create opportunities that allow families to build long-term stability. In cities like Abilene, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and Midland, small businesses are not just part of the economy, they are the economy.
Entrepreneurship as the Engine of the Nation
The national picture mirrors this structure. The American economy is entrepreneurial at its core. Millions of individuals take the risk to create something new, often with limited resources but tremendous determination.
As businesses grow, they create jobs that absorb workforce shifts; they respond to economic challenges with agility; and they diversify the marketplace by offering unique value not found in mass-produced or mass-marketed products.
Their contributions make the economy more resilient and more adaptable to change.
The Role of Lenders in Small Business Success
Another dimension of the small-business ecosystem that often goes unnoticed is the role of lenders. Financial institutions, banks, credit unions, community development lenders, and other mission-driven organizations, are vital partners in the growth of small businesses.
While some entrepreneurs are able to bootstrap their operations, many rely on loans or lines of credit to purchase equipment, fund inventory, expand facilities, or manage cash flow.
When lenders decide to support a small business, they are investing in the economic future of the region. The success of that business generates deposits, strengthens local banking relationships, and enhances the long-term financial health of the community.
During periods of economic strain, lenders serve as stabilizing forces, helping businesses navigate uncertainty rather than collapse under pressure.
The Power of Business-to-Business Relationships
Equally important is the business-to-business element of local economies. Many small businesses depend on contracts, partnerships, or relationships with other businesses for their survival.
A local cleaning company may serve dozens of offices. A web designer may build infrastructure for a network of entrepreneurs. A trucking company may transport regional goods for farmers, manufacturers, or distributors.
These relationships create an economic ecosystem that goes far beyond what consumers see. Money circulates, innovation spreads horizontally, and clusters of complementary businesses take root.
The result is a strong foundation that supports community-wide economic stability.
Why Small Businesses Don’t Need to Fear Corporations
A misconception often carried by entrepreneurs is the belief that large corporations threaten their viability. While it is natural to feel dwarfed by well-resourced national brands, the reality is much more nuanced.
Small businesses and corporations exist in a mutually reinforcing system. Large companies rely on small firms for specialized services, subcontracting, regional distribution, and local market presence.
Small businesses, in turn, benefit from the broader infrastructure and consumer markets that corporations create.
Instead of viewing corporations as adversaries, small businesses can view them as anchors around which local services, support firms, and entrepreneurial niches grow.
The contrast between scale and personalization allows both to coexist, each filling needs the other cannot.
The West Texas Context: A Diverse Regional Ecosystem
Nowhere is this more evident than in West Texas. The region is known for its strong agricultural, energy, educational, and military presence.
Dyess Air Force Base, the four universities in Abilene, and major healthcare systems all contribute significantly to the local economy.
But surrounding each of these anchors is a network of thousands of small businesses, shops, restaurants, consulting firms, trade professionals, transportation companies, and service providers, each contributing to the region’s identity and financial stability.
Taylor County’s Local Economic Picture
Taylor County’s economic profile demonstrates this relationship clearly. With a population of more than 144,000 residents and nearly 67,000 employed individuals, the region depends on more than 3,600 employer establishments to sustain daily life.
The county’s median household income, around $66,400, reflects a mixture of salaries from healthcare, retail, education, military service, energy work, and small business employment.
Health care alone accounts for more than eleven thousand jobs, retail for nearly nine thousand, and education for more than eight thousand.
Each of these sectors includes both large institutions and smaller enterprises, proving that local prosperity rests on a blend of scales, not solely on major employers or national chains.
Small Businesses as Stabilizers
Small businesses in Abilene and the surrounding counties also play a stabilizing role during economic fluctuations.
Whether the region is facing shifts in the energy market, changes in agricultural productivity, or broader national economic trends, small businesses adapt quickly and maintain continuity.
Their presence diversifies the economic base of the Big Country, ensuring that the community is not solely reliant on one industry or institution.
Their successes, in hiring one more employee, securing one more contract, or expanding one more location, accumulate into meaningful regional growth.
A National Day With Local Impact
Small Business Saturday serves as an annual reminder of the value these entrepreneurs bring to the nation.
It highlights the power of intentional support and encourages communities to recognize the significance of everyday choices.
When someone chooses to dine at a local restaurant rather than a chain, or purchases a gift from a local boutique instead of an online giant, they are reinforcing the strength of the local economy.
These choices help maintain jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and preserve the character of the community.
The Strength of America’s Economic Foundation
The strength of the American economy does not come from the top down. It grows from the ground up, through millions of decisions made by business owners, customers, lenders, suppliers, and communities.
Small businesses are the engine that drives this growth.
Supporting them on November 29 is meaningful, but supporting them year-round ensures that the communities we live in remain vibrant, resilient, and full of opportunity.
What to Remember
Small businesses employ nearly half of America’s private workforce and are a major source of job creation.
Local enterprises drive innovation by responding quickly to community needs.
Money spent at small businesses circulates within the community and strengthens the local economy.
Supporting local entrepreneurs preserves the identity, culture, and resilience of a community.
Small Business Saturday reminds us that every purchase, no matter the size, helps businesses thrive and communities grow.
The number and diversity of small businesses give them immense collective economic power.
Lenders and B2B relationships form the often-unseen infrastructure that helps small businesses succeed.
In West Texas and Abilene, small businesses are essential to regional stability, diversification, and long-term growth.
Sources Used for Local Data Verification (Not Included in Article)
U.S. Census Bureau – Taylor County Profile (Employer establishments)
DataUSA.io – Taylor County, TX Economic Profile (employment, income, sector data)
Texas Comptroller – Northwest Texas Region (regional population significance)
Comments