Why Small Business Matters

Small Businesses Rise Up

Mary Timmel

April 20, 2021

Together with more than 20 independent business organizations representing over 60,000 independent businesses across the country, we have officially launched Small Business Rising. It is a coalition of business owners and entrepreneurs from all corners of the country united around a common goal: breaking up monopoly power to safeguard the right of small businesses to compete and serve the needs of their communities.READ MORE

In The Washington Post: Small Pharmacies Beat Big Chains at Delivering Vaccines. Don't Look So Shocked

Stacy Mitchell

February 5, 2021

In the Washington Post, Stacy Mitchell explains why we shouldn't be surprised that West Virginia and North Dakota's independent pharmacies are beating the chains in vaccine distribution. The small pharmacies have proved remarkably nimble, while CVS and Walgreens have stumbled.READ MORE

Stacy Mitchell on SiriusXM's Tell Me Everything

Susan Holmberg

December 17, 2020

Stacy Mitchell joined John Fugelsang on SiriusXM's "Tell Me Everything" to talk about small businesses as critical allies with labor in the fight to check concentrated corporate power.READ MORE

Rebuilding Small Business for a Robust Recovery: A Federal Policy Agenda

Stacy Mitchell

December 3, 2020

In this policy brief, we argue that moving aggressively to rebuild small, independent businesses and reverse the concentration of corporate power would produce a more vigorous, equitable, and stable recovery. We lay out two dozen policy recommendations across a 6-point agenda to enable independent businesses to weather the pandemic and thrive and grow in its aftermath.READ MORE

In The Nation, the Left Should Fight for Small Business

Susan Holmberg

December 2, 2020

It's hard to believe, but Democrats used to be the party of small business. In The Nation, Stacy Mitchell and Susan R. Holmberg argue that the left should once again embrace small business. Doing so is crucial to reversing inequality & rescuing democracy. It’s also key to winning Congress.READ MORE

Small Businesses — Sign our Petition to Break Up Amazon

Mary Timmel

December 1, 2020

A Congressional committee spent a year investigating Amazon’s monopoly power. Its findings signal that it's time for independent businesses to urge Congress to break up Amazon. Small Business Owners — Sign our Petition.READ MORE

Stacy Mitchell on Strong Towns Podcast

Susan Holmberg

November 30, 2020

Stacy Mitchell talks to the Strong Towns podcast about how corporate power is concentrating during the pandemic, and what it would look like if Congress broke up Big Tech.READ MORE

Now is the Moment to Advocate for Small Business: A Kauffman Conversation

Susan Holmberg

September 9, 2020

Stacy Mitchell joined an online discussion with Jason Wiens, policy director for the Kauffman Foundation, and Brandy Bynum Dawson, director of Advocacy for the NC Rural Center about the critical role policy plays for small businesses – especially given the confluence of factors in 2020.READ MORE

Report: Fewer Small Businesses are Receiving Federal Relief Loans in States Dominated by Big Banks

Stacy Mitchell

April 29, 2020

A significantly larger number of federal relief loans are reaching small businesses in states where small, local banks comprise a greater share of the market, compared to states where big banks are more dominant, an ILSR analysis has found.READ MORE

How a Rebirth of Independent Pharmacies Could Cure Rural Ills

Stacy Mitchell

November 6, 2019

Independent pharmacies could flourish and multiply, helping to solve the growing problem of healthcare deserts — if only policymakers would stand up to the big players in the drug industry.READ MORE

Stacy Mitchell in The Atlantic: Democrats Were Once Small Business Champions

Charlie Thaxton

May 16, 2019

In The Atlantic, Stacy Mitchell focuses on the Democrats' forgotten role as small business champions, and on Elizabeth Warren's reclaiming of the monopoly trustbusting tradition.READ MORE

In Book Review for Washington Monthly, Stacy Mitchell on "The Truth About Big Business"

Stacy Mitchell

July 24, 2018

In the July-August issue of "Washington Monthly" magazine, ILSR's Stacy Mitchell rebuts a new book's claims that the monopolization of the U.S. economy is a good thing. As she does so, Stacy also mounts a vigorous counter-argument, explaining how economic policy has tilted the playing field in favor of bigness, but how small businesses perform critical functions that big businesses can't.READ MORE

Why Care about Independent, Locally Owned Businesses?

Marie Donahue

July 23, 2018

Locally owned businesses play a central role in healthy communities and are among the best engines that cities and towns have for advancing economic opportunity and building resilient places. Here, we outline five important reasons for local officials to support independent businesses, based on a growing body of research.READ MORE

Why Small Businesses Matter for Workers

Stacy Mitchell

April 18, 2018

Small businesses are sometimes criticized as being bad for workers — but that idea is wrong. In this piece, we look at how small and large businesses compare on concrete metrics like wages, and find that in some industries, including retail, employees at small businesses earn more. There's also a larger way in which the interests of small businesses and working people are aligned, we argue: Both groups benefit when public policy works to disperse economic power.READ MORE

What Neighborhood Retail Gets Right (Episode 27)

Nick Stumo-Langer

August 24, 2017

Gina Schaefer, the founder and owner of several local hardware stores in Washington, D.C., joins us to talk about starting and growing a neighborhood business and how her stores are faring in the age of Amazon.READ MORE

Report: Monopoly Power and the Decline of Small Business

Stacy Mitchell

August 10, 2016

Small businesses have been in steep decline. In this report, we argue that anticompetitive behavior by large, dominant corporations is largely to blame and present three reasons to bring a commitment to fair markets for small businesses back into antitrust policy. The report won an award for antitrust scholarship in 2017.READ MORE

Key Studies: Why Independent Matters

Stacy Mitchell

January 8, 2016

A growing body of research is giving us new ways to quantify the harms of bigness and the benefits of local ownership. In this post, we round-up the important studies and provide the evidence that policymakers can use to craft better laws, business owners can use to rally support, and citizens can use to organize their communities.READ MORE

For Cities, Big-Box Stores Are Becoming Even More of a Terrible Deal

Olivia LaVecchia

June 16, 2015

Under what has become known as the "dark store" method, big-box retailers are declaring their busy stores to be functionally obsolescent and therefore nearly worthless for tax purposes —and they're winning big judgments for back taxes. It's the latest example of the way that, even as local governments continue to bend over backwards to attract big-box development, these stores are consistently a bad deal for communities.READ MORE

Locally Owned Businesses Can Help Communities Thrive — and Survive Climate Change

Stacy Mitchell

April 26, 2013

Cities where small, locally owned businesses account for a relatively large share of the economy have stronger social networks, more engaged citizens, and better success solving problems, according to several recently published studies.READ MORE

Local Ownership Makes Communities Healthier, Wealthier and Wiser

Stacy Mitchell

July 18, 2012

Most policymakers don't imagine that their economic development decisions will affect such things as voter turnout or the prevalence of chronic disease. But a growing body of research is finding that scale and ownership of business matter in ways that extend far beyond economic outcomes.READ MORE

Audio & Video

Why We Can't Shop Our Way to a Better Economy: Stacy Mitchell's TEDx Talk

Stacy Mitchell

December 1, 2012

In this TEDx talk, Stacy Mitchell makes the case for a new phase in the local economy movement.READ MORE

Watch: Stacy Mitchell Speaks on the New Localism

ILSR

March 4, 2016

ILSR's Stacy Mitchell spoke about policy to shape the next phase of the local economy movement in this presentation at the 2016 Winter Institute. The annual conference and educational event, hosted by the American Booksellers Association, was held in Denver on Jan. 25 and 26.READ MORE

Factsheets & Infographics

The Ripple Effect When You Shop Local (Infographic)

Olivia LaVecchia

November 21, 2017

When you choose locally owned businesses for your shopping, you create a ripple effect. Our new infographic shows what happens when you shop local — starting with you.READ MORE

Top 10 Reasons to Support Locally Owned Businesses

Stacy Mitchell

December 10, 2012

Here are the ten short-and-sweet reasons why supporting independent businesses is critical to the well-being of our communities and our economy.READ MORE