Support Small Business Saturday by Shopping Small

From Hillsborough County Government Online:

The second annual Small Business Saturday is Nov. 26 – sandwiched between Black Friday and Cyber Monday — and Hillsborough County’s Small Business Information Center (SBIC) is urging holiday shoppers to support independently owned local businesses.

Hillsborough County’s Economic Development Department stresses that locally-owned stores create jobs, boost the economy, and help invigorate neighborhoods. According to the County’s SBIC, 75,000 small businesses are operating in Hillsborough County, making up 92 percent of the businesses in the community.

Hillsborough County’s new Small Business Job Creation Program is also available to help small business owners expand. The program still has more than $265,000 available for small business owners to hire new employees.

The Board of County Commissioners approved the , spearheaded by Commissioner Sandra L. Murman, on March 16, 2011.

The program is designed to promote job creation in Hillsborough County by offering a wage reimbursement to small business owners. The reimbursement would pay small businesses up to 50 percent of three months’ total salary for new jobs created, capped at $3,900 per new employee. It is estimated that this program will encourage the creation of approximately 200 jobs, offering a total of $500,000 to local small business owners.

For additional information, contact the Hillsborough County Small, Minority Business Development Section at (813) 914-4028.