Many Local Businesses Open Their Doors Next Week
Guest contributor: Everal Eaton
BAR HARBOR—National Small Business Week has been celebrated by the U.S. Small Business Administration for over 60 years. This year, National Small Business Week takes place from April 28th to May 4th. It is a time of the year to recognize the hard work, dedication, and contributions small businesses make to our community year-round.
In Bar Harbor and MDI, we are fortunate to be surrounded by many amazing small businesses. Each year, they work hard to create the charm and experience that Bar Harbor is known for. Many of these businesses are owned by our neighbors and friends who started with a dream and were able to make it a reality. Walking up and down the streets in town, each owner has a different story to tell on how their business started and their goals for the future. These stories are an important part of our community and continue to build on the foundation that makes our community an incredible place to live, work, play, and visit.
Supporting small businesses also means supporting our local economy.
According to a May 2022 SCORE article on the impacts of small businesses:
“For every dollar you spend at a small business, 67 cents stays in the local community, and a majority of that (44 cents) goes to the small business owner and the wages and benefits of their employees. The benefits don’t stop there, either. Small businesses reinvest 23 cents of every dollar into other local businesses.
“Ultimately, that dollar you spend at that small business creates an additional 50 cents of local economic impact, which means when you shop at small businesses, your dollars go a lot further. Thirty cents of that economic impact comes from small businesses using local vendors and 20 cents gets spent local by the owner and their employees.”
This year, the Bar Harbor Chamber is excited to bring the celebration of National Small Business Week to Bar Harbor. Throughout the week, we’ll be visiting several of our small businesses to mark the occasion with them. On Thursday, May 2nd, the Bar Harbor Chamber will have free coffee and cake at our Visitor Center at 2 Cottage Street and free popcorn available at Bayside Landing from 10:30 am - noon. Thursday also marks the day that several of our small businesses open their doors for the start of their season.
We hope you join us in celebrating our small businesses. We encourage you to use National Small Business Week to stop into our area’s businesses, learn their stories, and support their hard work.
Everal Eaton
Executive Director
Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce
A QUICK NOTE AND A LINK
This is a guest post by Everal Eaton, Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce director. If you’d like to write a guest post about a topic like this or like Bill Horner did in praise of the great bean supper, let us know!
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