By Zach Friend, Second District Supervisor
The holiday season is traditionally one of the largest sales times for many retailers. This year, local businesses have been facing additional pressures as a result of the pandemic and subsequent economic downturn.
As a community, we have a unique opportunity to show support for our small, locally-owned businesses as they compete with national online retailers — especially during the holiday season.
In Santa Cruz County, 82 percent of local businesses have less than 9 employees. Many in the mid and south county work for locally-owned businesses and our local economy is dependent upon a robust small business sector.
Some of the local businesses offer online ordering (with same day pick-up) and there is even a new Aptos-based startup InStock.org — that helps you find local businesses with items you may be looking for.
Many in our area are holding extended holiday specials that extend beyond the traditional Black Friday or Small Business Saturday timeframes.
According to an analysis by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, “locally owned businesses play a central role in healthy communities and are among the best engines that cities and towns have for advancing economic opportunity and building resilient places.”
Specifically, they note work from an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that showed that counties with larger shares of local small businesses outperform their peers on three critical economic indicators: they have stronger per capita income growth, faster employment growth and lower poverty rates.
Additionally, an analysis from the Government Finance Review found that smaller-local businesses (versus box stores) provide more tax revenue on the aggregate while costing less in government services.
We have many locally-owned businesses that provide a variety of options for our holiday shopping including kids’ stores, restaurant gift certificates, great coffee shops, clothing stores, jewelers, locally-owned hotel getaway options and more.
Some of these small businesses have been recognized nationally for their unique options and all of these businesses employ local residents and many are owned by residents right here in the mid and south county.
A number of these businesses are now offering shipping options to you or to those you are purchasing gifts for to save you a trip out and provide an extra layer of safety this holiday season.
If you’d like additional information, the Aptos Chamber of Commerce has a businesses directory and holiday specials at www.aptoschamber.com or the Capitola/Soquel Chamber at www.capitolachamber.com and the Pajaro Valley Chamber at www.pajarovalleychamber.com.
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As always, I love hearing from you. I’m maintaining regular updates on social media at www.facebook.com/supervisorfriend and I’ve been hosting regular tele-town halls with County and community leaders on most Tuesday nights from 6-7 pm. The call-in information for the town halls is 454-2222 with the Meeting ID: 145384# – or you can always call me at 454-2200.