We love small businesses. We are a small business. As most of you know, fifteen years ago, amp consisted of Matt Simms, his laptop, a plastic chair and the local Kinko’s. Today, amp is home to ten individuals and several large printing and finishing machines. Due to Matt’s hard work, amp is now known around Nashville for its local roots, its entrepreneurial spirit and its friendly atmosphere.
We’re proud of our company’s history and all small business employees who enrich their community. In honor of National Small Business Week, we wanted to share a few interesting facts and advantages of small businesses.
1. There are 28 million small businesses in the U.S.
2. 70 percent of small businesses are owned and operated by a single person.
3. Nashville was chosen as one of six locations by the U.S. Small Business Administration to open a Women’s Business Center across the country in 2015.
4. 29 percent of Tennessee’s economic activity is due to small businesses.
5. More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business.
6. It takes just 6 days to start a business in the US, compared to 38 days in China.
7. It costs 6x as much to start a business in India than in the US.
8. Small businesses create about two out of every three new jobs in the United States each year.
9. Immigrants make up 12.5 percent of small business owners nationwide.
10. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it was our small businesses that powered our recovery after the Great Recession.
11. America is one of the few countries that give entrepreneurs a seat at the President’s cabinet table.
12. Small businesses pay 44 percent of the country’s payrolls.
13. Local business generates 70 percent more local economic activity per square foot than big box retail.
14. The U.S. transports and ships $2.2 trillion worth of products from over 150 countries each year. International shipping and transport result in 1.1 billion gallons of fuel used and1 billion metric tons of CO2 per year. Shopping locally helps cut down on processing, packaging and transportation waste, leading to less pollution.
15. If every family in the U.S. spent an extra $10 month at a locally owned, independent business instead of a national chain, over $9.3 billion would be directly returned to our economy.
Why Buying Local is Worth Every Cent