With holidays looming, now is a good time to remember the role that small businesses play in Greater Cleveland.

These entrepreneurs are anchors for their neighborhoods.

Locally owned businesses support local causes, contribute local income and property taxes for their communities and schools and provide invaluable jobs to thousands of people.

For groups such as artists and artisans, they offer outlets to showcase their wares.

But buying local and supporting local businesses is much more than a feel-good activity. It helps to maintain a vital component in Ohio’s economy through a concept called the multiplier effect. Simply put, dollars spent at local small businesses are more likely to be re-spent in the community than those at large chains and franchises.

A study in Maine by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit that seeks to build local control over economies, found that each $100 spent at a local independent store generated another $45 in spending for items such as payroll, goods and services purchased and donations to area charities. That compared to $14 for a big-box chain.

Similar research in Austin, Texas, by Civic Economics, an economic analysis and strategic planning consultancy, estimated that an independent bookseller and an independent music seller returned more than three times as much money to the local economy as their chain-store competitors.

On average, 48% of each purchase at local independent businesses was recirculated locally, compared to less than 14% of purchases at chain stores.

Ohio’s economy has been climbing back from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Statewide unemployment, which peaked at 16.4% in April 2020, has worked its way down to 4.2% for October, the most recent month available. In May 2019 it was 3.9%.

Cuyahoga County has trailed the state, but it too is back to pre-pandemic levels. It peaked at 21.4% in April 2020. The rate was 4.2% in October, the same level as in May 2019.

A big part of that is growth in small businesses.

Filings for new business creation climbed the last three years, setting a record in 2021 with 197,010 new business filings, according to the Ohio secretary of state.

The numbers for 2022 are trailing, but still strong. Through October more than 152,000 new businesses had filed with the state, down from 170,700 from last year through October.

Small businesses don’t make the same news splash as large factories for job creation. A local proprietor might employ 20 people or less. Intel’s chip manufacturing site near Columbus is expected to employ as many as 3,000 workers.

But those jobs at all those small businesses add up to a big piece of the economy.

The federal Small Business Administration estimates there are nearly 1 million small businesses in Ohio this year. They employ about 2.2 million people – or about 45% of the state’s workforce.

Nearly one in every five Ohioans works for a small business.

Fortunately, shoppers fancy making purchases at small businesses.

In a survey conducted by Bankrate, an online financial site, just before November’s Small Business Saturday, 95% of holiday shoppers said small businesses offered advantages that larger retailers could not match.

Among those cited were unique gift ideas, better inventory and better customer service.

Nearly 40% said they appreciate that small businesses foster a sense of community.

So, as you search for gifts this holiday season, feel free to scope out ideas online.

But when it becomes time to buy, venture outside.

Sure, it’s easier to click your computer mouse and wait for Amazon to deliver your packages.

But buying from local businesses is a gift that keeps on giving, providing support to your community, your friends and your neighbors.

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