This Valentine's Day, gift your special loved ones something unique from one of the many small businesses here in Placer County. Our small business owners have unique insight and can recommend valuable finds within their inventory or share their best deals.
From handcrafted goods to locally grown produce, our Placer County business community is one-of-a-kind, and it's a great time for residents to show their support by shopping or dining at their favorite stores and restaurants for Valentine's Day.
Not only will you be helping small business owners, but shopping locally helps preserve jobs and keeps tax dollars invested where we live. Find out more by using the hashtag #ShopPlacer.
Let’s #ShopPlacer together.
Placer County is home to roughly 13,000 businesses. It is estimated that between 80-90% of these are considered small businesses.
This is our third year sharing the Shop Placer campaign through our local chambers of commerce and cities. It began during the height of the pandemic to increase sales at the local level and support any small business going through hardship.
According to the U.S. Small Business Association and the U.S. Department of Labor, small businesses employ 77 million Americans and accounted for 65% of all new jobs over the past 17 years.
Local businesses are also more likely to support other local businesses such as banks, service providers and nearby farms. That means those other small businesses generate revenue from local purchases and can keep their own employees on their staff.
Beyond their commitment to serving the community and their support for other local businesses, research has shown that 91% of local business owners contribute to local schools, nonprofits and community groups, by volunteering and making donations.
Yes. Shopping locally can help save energy and resources by reducing carbon emission through less fuel for transportation and less packaging.
The Environmental Protection Agency has reported that clusters of small businesses in a walkable area, or near residential areas, may reduce car usage and encourage biking and walking for shoppers. Areas of the city designed for walking and outdoor shopping help reduce emissions from vehicles, improving air quality. As for the differences in online shopping, many carbon-creating practices can be reduced when shopping locally—anything from less air transportation and ground transportation for delivery to reduced packaging helps reduce a shoppers’ carbon footprint.
* According to the U.S. Small Business Association and the U.S. Department of Labor