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By Larry Austin
Island Dispatch Editor
The town government asked its residents to support local business heading into the holiday season.
Monday at Town Hall, the Grand Island Town Board proclaimed Nov. 28 as Small Business Saturday on Grand Island and urged residents "to support local businesses that we value in our community by patronizing them on Small Business Saturday and repeatedly throughout the year."
Fahim Mojawalla of the Island Ship Center on Whitehaven Road and Bev Kinney, both of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, accepted the proclamation from the board.
Small Business Saturday was founded in 2010 by American Express as a national effort to drive consumers to shop at local independently owned businesses, and to help small businesses increase exposure during the holiday shopping weekend, the proclamation stated.
"Hashtag Shop Small!" said Mojawalla in receiving the proclamation from Town Supervisor Mary Cooke, referring to the official hashtag of American Express on social media, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.
"I think it's great. It's growing," Mojawalla said of the event. "I think it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. I think it's important because small businesses are the backbone of America."
In making the proclamation, the board noted "a successful small business community is an essential part of our great quality of life on Grand Island as our local businesses create jobs, boost our local economy by generating tax revenues, and contribute to the preservation of the neighborhoods that compose the landscape of our Grand Island local economy and enrich its unique culture."
Small businesses employ over one-half of the employees in the private sector, the proclamation stated.