Saturday, Nov. 26 is Small Business Saturday and this now annual event has become a movement across the nation to keep our economy alive and keep local jobs by keeping spending local.

The event has attracted some big name participants including FedEx, Google, Twitter, and even Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corporation.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there were nearly 28 million small businesses in the United States last year. Over the past two decades, they created 65 percent of net new jobs. Their importance to local communities extends even further. For every $100 spent in locally-owned, independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures, according to the small business advocacy group The 3/50 Project.

West Seattle and White Center are neighborhoods that depend on local residents for support. This idea, shopping locally, has benefits that extend well beyond just keeping a small business going. It actually builds a network of support for the entire community, keeping lights on, reducing crime, and preserving local resources.

The 3/50 Project (www.the350project.net) is a grass roots awareness campaign focused on reuniting consumers and independent, locally owned brick and mortar businesses in their communities. Begun in March 2009 as an off-the-cuff blog post written by Minneapolis retail expert, Cinda Baxter, The 3/50 Project asks consumers to return to three local businesses they love and don’t want to lose, then to commit $50 of their current monthly budget toward local, independent merchants. The message went viral via social media, exploding onto the national stage as a unique, positive, achievable concept. Launch of the350project.net and its companion Facebook page have since garnered international support from small business owners and consumers alike.

For a directory of local businesses here in the West Seattle Junction look here:
http://wsjunction.org/business-directory/

For a directory of local businesses in White Center look here:
http://www.wccda.org/resources/business-directory/

For a directory of local business all over West Seattle including Alki, Admiral, Delridge, Morgan Street and elsewhere look here:
http://westseattle.wschamber.com/list

And many if not most of the local Black Friday offers are continuing too: