Politics & Government

Small Business Saturday in Full Swing

Get out and support locally owned shops today!

After shoppers competed for discounts largely in major chain stores on Black Friday, several Bay Area cities are encouraging shoppers to take part in a nationwide campaign called Small Business Saturday today.

The national campaign is in its second year, and encourages shoppers to spend some time on Saturday doing their holiday shopping in small, locally owned businesses.

Shopping locally helps the city maintain public services by generating sales tax revenue, say elected officials throughout the Bay Area.

Find out what's happening in Rohnert Park-Cotatiwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The City Council that there are signs that sales tax income is turning Rohnert Park's flailing economy around. According to the numbers, revenue increased nearly a million dollars over the anticipated $7.4 million this year — a 5.2 uptick from 2010 numbers. Total sales taxes were $8,237,144 this year; $1.8 million came from Measure E.

Small Business Saturday was started last year by American Express, and offered statement credits for American Express customers who used their credit card to purchase goods at small businesses that day.

Find out what's happening in Rohnert Park-Cotatiwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The campaign has even picked up national support from the Obama Administration, which announced that various Cabinet secretaries and other Administration officials would be shopping at small businesses throughout the country today.

Did you participate in Black Friday or Small Business Saturday? We'd love to hear from you. What did you find great deals on? What local business did you support?

Also, don't forget about our push to tell the stories of locally-owned businesses. Tell us who we should know about in the comments or in our . We'll be running features over the next week celebrating them!

-Bay City News and Angela Hart.


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