One of the keys to sustaining a strong state economy is the Buy Local Initiative. According to the Small Business Administration, Local and Small business employs about 50% of working citizens nationally, and locally in Maryland it employs 53.4% of all private sector employees; Moreover, very small firms with 20 employees or fewer spend on average 45% more per employee than large firms just to comply with regulations. In 2006, Maryland had over 112,000 Small Business employers which represented 97.7% of the state's employers. While Small business currently employs about half of the nations private sector jobs, they are responsible for creating 60 -80% of net new jobs annually over the last decade. In many cases, small firms grow into larger firms through the dedication and hard work of everyday citizens who have seized an opportunity and are reclassified, but make no mistake: small business is responsible for stimulating our economy and we must remember that in legislating their future. The simple truth is that small business is the backbone of our economic engine. When the citizens of Maryland choose to buy local they choose to keep their tax dollars at home helping to relieve the tax burden on every citizen. According to the US Department of Labor, for every $100 spent in a local business, $68 of that money is returned to the community through payroll, local taxes and other operating expenditures. That same $100 spent in a national chain typically returns only$43 to it's local community and often through Internet purchases simply none. Success in the Buy Local Initiative depends on making the knowledge available to Marylanders to buy from their friends and neighbors and continue a sustainable cycle of production and business in Maryland.
