Los Alamos Reporter

Small Businesses Are A Big Deal

BY ELLA DOWNING OLSEN
Student
Los Alamos High School

Though at times small businesses may seem unimportant losing them could be immensely disadvantageous. I believe you should support small businesses because they are an important part of the economy, a lack of new and smaller businesses can cause harm, and if you do decide to support small businesses you would not be alone in your fight.

Small businesses may be a bigger part of the economy than you thought “According to the United States Small Business Administration, there are 32.5 million small businesses in the United States, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of firms with paid employees, small businesses are responsible for 62 percent of net new jobs created since 1995, and small businesses employ 46.8 percent of the employees in the private sector in the United States”(1) not supporting small businesses has the potential to be greatly detrimental. While small businesses are inherently small if not supported properly the deficit that they would leave behind could be devastating. 

Without more business, harmful monopolies oligopolies can use predatory business practices that are detrimental to both consumers and other businesses. I have seen businesses in Los Alamos doing things to reduce competition, such as not selling unused buildings in order to hinder competitors’ ability to gain space for selling, producing, or storage. Considering how hard it can be to buy real estate in this area, this kind of behavior can destroy small businesses and prohibit the formation of new businesses. Furthermore, besides hindering competition, monopolies and oligopolies slow innovation, distort the distribution of income, give opportunities for collusion, restrict production, and raise prices. Therefore it is very important to fight against monopolies and oligopolies by supporting small businesses. 

All is not necessarily lost, some people are fighting for small businesses and laws have been put in place to protect and incentivize small businesses. As Melanee Hand said, “The County currently has several processes and organizations to incentivize businesses and commercial development: NM State level forwards leads to regional and local entities, LAC seeks out businesses and developers, Businesses and developers approach Los Alamos County, and comprehensive programs utilizing local, regional, state and federal funding and assistance resources that support and incentivize investment in new and existing businesses in Los Alamos County, such as the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA), American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), and Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (MRA).”(2). More recently Small Business Saturday was made to encourage purchases from small businesses as declared by Councilor Sara Scott “On behalf of the Council of the Incorporated County of Los Alamos, I do hereby proclaim, November 26, 2022, as “SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY” and urge the residents of our community, and communities across the country, to support small businesses and merchants on Small Business Saturday and throughout the year.”(1).

So I urge you to fight alongside others by voting for those who support small businesses and by purchasing from small businesses whenever possible. 

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