I heart small business

I'm a huge fan of small business. I come from a long line of small business owners. Sometimes I think their legacy explains my entrepreneurial spirit and social-mindedness. The small business people in my family worked hard, lost sleep, and provided well for their employees. Not because the law demanded it, but because they understood the value of a loyal employee. Here's what the Small Business Administration has to say about the impact of small businesses in the United States.

Small businesses:
• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
• Employ about half of all private sector employees.
• Pay nearly 45 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually
over the last decade.
• Create more than half of nonfarm private gross domestic
product (GDP).
• Hire 40 percent of high tech workers (such as scientists,
engineers, and computer workers).
• Are 52 percent home-based and 2 percent franchises.
• Made up 97.3 percent of all identified exporters and produced
28.9 percent of the known export value in FY 2006.
• Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large
patenting firms; these patents are twice as likely as large
firm patents to be among the one percent most cited.

Wow, right?

This morning I am having coffee (and some free wifi) at an individually owned coffee shop in Front Royal, VA. The coffee shop, The Daily Grind, is a regional franchise... this particular shop is owned by Herb and Judy Melrath. There names are on a plaque on the wall, surrounded by photographs of customers and employee of the month notifications. It is quaint. It's cozy. And the workers are...wait for it...NICE! The owner serves up coffee alongside her employees. It's a great place. But...

Small businesses, like this shop, are in danger and the threats are not only coming from large corporate firms (I'm not trying to beat up on Starbucks here, but they are a great example), but also from local, state, and national government. On average small businesses that employ less than 20 people must spend $7,647 per worker to comply with federal regulations. Large businesses that employ more than 500 people only spend $5,282. So it's hard.

Recently, a Starbucks opened in Front Royal.

So! What can you do about it? Shop, eat, and consume locally whenever you can. Just remember that the $2 you pay for a cup of coffee at The Daily Grind (or the locally owned coffee shop in your area) is directly impacting people's lives for the better.