Shaheen Statement Ahead of Small Business Saturday
(Manchester, NH) – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, issued the following statement ahead of Small Business Saturday, which takes place this weekend – Saturday, November 26th. Occurring during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year, Small Business Saturday aims to encourage Americans to buy from and support local small businesses.
Shaheen was in Laconia this week visiting local small businesses – including the Colonial Theatre, Wayfarer Coffee Roasters, NH Vintage Vinyl and Piedmont Print and Frame – as part of a downtown walk to encourage families to shop local.
“Small businesses make up 99 percent of all New Hampshire businesses and employ nearly 50 percent of our state’s workforce – they’re the backbone of our economy. As we approach the holiday season, I encourage all Granite Staters to join me in supporting them and remember to shop local,” said Shaheen. “As a former small business owner, I know how important it is to have community support, and that’s especially true as our economy gets back on track amid our financial recovery from the pandemic. From the Seacoast to the Lakes Region, up to the North Country, over to Western New Hampshire and back down to the Southern Tier, our state is brimming with incredible local businesses who all could use our support this holiday season.”
As a senior member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and as a former small business owner, Senator Shaheen is a fierce advocate for New Hampshire’s small business community. In October, Shaheen’s bipartisan legislation with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) – the One Stop Shop for Small Business Compliance Act – was signed into law. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaheen went to bat for small business owners who were among the most severely impacted by the public health crisis. She worked to provide small businesses with the resources they needed to weather and recover from the economic impact of COVID-19, leading negotiations on provisions in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and expanded the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. Both programs were lifelines for businesses throughout New Hampshire and the country.
