Much of Albert Lea’s success as a community centers around the success of its small businesses, so it only makes sense to get out and support these businesses when we get the opportunity.

Residents have the opportunity to do so this holiday season, starting on Saturday during Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to supporting small businesses across the country, always on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. The concept was started as a marketing campaign by American Express in 2010 to help small businesses get more customers and has since morphed into its own movement.

The effort is being combined locally this year with a Shop Albert Lea campaign, which is encouraging people to shop at local retailers in Albert Lea and Freeborn County. As part of the campaign, people can be eligible to win prizes by visiting local stores through a passport tour that continues through Dec. 13. For every store people visit, they can get a stamp in their passport, which counts toward an entry for prizes.

According to the Small Business Administration, small businesses in Minnesota employed 1.2 million people, or 47.8 percent of the private workforce, in 2015.

Nationwide in 2010, there were 27.9 million small businesses. Since the latest recession, from mid-2009 to 2011, small firms, led by the larger ones in the category (20-499 employees), accounted for 67 percent of the net new jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Before you consider going online to look for gifts for your friends and family, instead check out the area’s boutiques and stores. Consider the ripple effect you could have on not only keeping a small business in our community but helping it grow, too.

According to an economic analysis on shopping small commissioned by American Express, for every dollar you spend at a small business, on average 67 cents stays in the local community. Of that amount, 44 cents goes to the small business owner and employee wages and benefits, and 23 cents gets reinvested in other local businesses.

When you support a local business, you support your neighbors and your local economy. These are the businesses that donate to our schools, to benefits and to other good causes in the community. Let’s show them our thanks this season and throughout the year.