Local Business Institute

10/15/2026

Local Treats Avoid Tricks!
“Beware: big boxes love to trick! Instead, keep your witches and wizards giggling all night by shopping at small businesses. It’s the only real magic this Halloween!”

10/12/2026

Don’t Be Spooked!
“Don’t let those big box monsters haunt your candy haul! Treat your tiny ghosts & goblins to local treats—because nothing’s scarier than store-bought boredom. Shop small for the sweetest Halloween surprise!”

10/09/2026

Goblins Love Local!
"Fact: Goblins are allergic to big box stores. Protect your little ghouls—grab delicious local goodies for a Halloween they’ll remember (and fewer green goblin sneezes guaranteed)!"

10/07/2026

Could Dropping the Dollar Sign Help Customers Spend More?

Small business owners spend plenty of time deciding what to charge. But there is another question worth asking: how are those prices presented? READ MORE...

Value of local business is human to human

10/07/2026

AI Isn’t Replacing Main Street Jobs. It May Be Helping Create Them.

We’ve all heard (and maybe felt) the panic of Ai replacing workers. And it can. But a new study shows otherwise. For a local business owner, the promise of AI isn’t that a chatbot will run the shop. It’s that a small team might finally get some breathing room—and room to grow.

In a new Gusto study, researchers compared payroll records from 1,593 small businesses that adopted AI with 669 that knew about it but hadn’t adopted it.

Value of local business is human to human

09/24/2026

Shopping locally is more than a transaction. At its heart, it is a choice to keep our everyday spending connected to the people and places that make a community feel like home.

When we buy a loaf of bread from a neighborhood bakery, pick up a gift from an independent shop, hire a local repair person, or choose produce from a nearby farmer, we are doing more than purchasing something we need. We are helping support a neighbor’s livelihood. We are contributing to local jobs, helping small businesses stay open, and keeping more money circulating through the community.

Value of local business is human to human

09/24/2026

Live Local means you participate in your local community as much as possible—from where you choose to shop to getting involved in local policy. It’s choosing to play an active role in the direction of your community and exercising your choices to embrace your local culture, economy and lifestyle. Living Local creates a life of authentic experiences, genuine to your community rather than national cookie cutters. Choose to Live Local!
Take the Live Local Pledge: https://localbusinessinstitute.org/live-local-pledge

09/16/2026

Your involvement matters. Our days are made up of choices in where to spend your time, energy, focus, resources and more. Make the choice to Live Local whenever and wherever possible. Take the Live Local Pledge: https://localbusinessinstitute.org/live-local-pledge

09/15/2026

Trump’s New SBA Size Standards Call Big Business “Small” — And Main Street Will Pay

From our friends at the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR)—The Small Business Administration (SBA) is proposing to radically overhaul the standards the federal government uses to decide which companies count as small. The change would immediately bring more than 114,000 additional firms under that designation, making them eligible for federal loan guarantees, contract set-asides, and other support earmarked for small businesses.

Public comments on the proposal are due Sept. 21, 2026.

09/07/2026

Every dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of businesses and services you want in your community. It’s easy to see that your dollars support the local businesses you’d like to have in your neighborhood, but look closer at what supports your community. From governmental policies to volunteerism—all help, hinder, support or direct the elements that make your community a wonderful place to live.
Take the Live Local Pledge: https://localbusinessinstitute.org/live-local-pledge