Big push for small businesses
"A lot (of our business) we found out is word of mouth and repeat customers," Lynn Burkdorf said, but she's hoping participating in Herkimer County Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Week May 19-25 will draw new customers to her establishment, which opened late last year. Throughout the state and the nation, chambers of commerce and business organizations celebrate, honor and promote small businesses through small business weeks or days. During last year's Small Business Saturday - which began in 2010 and takes place the Saturday after Thanksgiving - U.S. consumers spent $5.5 billion at small businesses, American Express spokesman Scott Krugman said. He said no statistics were kept in the two prior years. Of the tens of millions of Americans familiar with the event, 67 percent planned to “shop small” last year, according to the Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey. About 44 percent of those surveyed said they shopped small in 2011... At the