Focusing on small business

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there’s been a big push over the last decade to adopt Small Business Saturday. The idea is to encourage holiday shopping at home instead of online or at a big box store.

This Saturday marks the 10th annual Small Business Saturday event, with various shops and groups in Clovis, Portales and across the state and country making a push to keep things local.

Small Business Saturday is also a New Mexico tax-free holiday, meaning any shoppers going to businesses that employ 10 or fewer people will not be charged gross receipts tax on their purchases.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has pushed for the adoption of the holiday across the country for the last 10 years, with the New Mexico branch recently publishing its findings on how the holiday has affected the state.

There are roughly 154,000 small businesses across New Mexico that employ roughly half of the state’s workforce.

According to the SBA, 60 percent of surveyed entrepreneurs said Small Business Saturday contributed heavily to their holiday revenues. Last season, an estimated 104 million consumers spent $17.8 billion at local businesses, restaurants and small online sellers during the holiday.

It’s also estimated that businesses employ 560,000 temporary employees to handle the holiday shopping season.

The Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce will hold a giveaway this Saturday to help encourage local shoppers to participate in the event.

City Commissioner and Director of Small Business Development Center at Clovis Community College Sandra Taylor-Sawyer helped push for the awareness of the tax holiday in the Clovis area.

She helped organize the Shop Small kickoff event at CCC earlier this month and got a proclamation from the city commission endorsing the event.

“Many local shops will be open this Saturday and we encourage everyone to go out and shop,” Taylor-Sawyer said. “It’s important because anything that can help make our community strong by supporting local business is important. Over 50 percent of the money made local stays local. It’s to go out and support our friends, family and neighbors.”

Portales small businesses are also participating, and getting a head start on Black Friday with its regular Fifth Friday art event. That’s where local artists will be selling their art at the YAM Theatre from noon to 6 p.m.