Small Businesses Make Communities Better

Publicly traded companies don't make our communities run.

Yesterday we stopped at a local cheese shop in the middle of nowhere.

As we parked, the owner said, "Oh good! You caught me right before I was about to mow the lawn!"

It was a little shop with homemade cheese, jams, candies, etc. The owner said they're typically closed on Sundays, but if you see her around, let her know, and she'll open the shop for anyone.

We took her recommendations, learned about her cows, and had a great experience, which made me long for more places like this.

I grew up close to the Adirondacks, where almost everyone you knew had a local business of some sort. You'd hop into your local grocery store and see the owner of your favorite ice cream shop picking up ingredients for that week's flavor.

Local youth sports teams were sponsored by places like Baker's Boat Repairs. Rarely did people have a lot, but many of us had everything.

Communities were built by small businesses.

During the pandemic, many local businesses shut down. Rent was insane, costs were too high, and while big business after business got financial support that went back into shareholders' pockets, your favorite family-owned diner was writing a farewell letter to their customers on Facebook.

It seems like every day since, local businesses from repair shops to restaurants are shutting down, leaving communities worse because of it.

Ordering groceries from your favorite big retailer is convenient. In our hustle economy, it allows us to get home faster and get back to work. But I can't help but feel that in our effort to optimize everything, we've lost what makes our communities run, paving the way for what we see today.

Publicly traded companies don't make our communities run. They won't give our neighborhoods life or ask how your kid did on their spelling test while bagging your groceries.

I believe in the idea of capitalism, but our version of capitalism is wrought with manipulation. Sure, some small businesses won't succeed, but many are never given a chance because somebody somewhere needs a second home for their second family.

We love our little gems - restaurants with low capacities, ice cream shops with locally sourced cream. We love cheese shops where we have to flag down the owner on her lawn mower so she can open the shop and we can buy some cheese curds.

I understand the economic realities of our world, but it's a world we've created; it didn't have to be this way.

At some point, we're gonna realize (and I think we're already starting to) that tying our fates to people hellbent on stealing every dime in our pockets has hurt us in ways that go far beyond our bank accounts.