SBA highlights on tour importance of local business

By 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Small Business Administrator Montana District Director Brent Donnelly had made 11 stops on on his tour promoting the support of small businesses in Montana, which Tuesday included a stop at Havre's Boxcar's Restaurant and Bar.

He came to Havre from Chester and was on his way to Chinook after he left, three of his stops to visit all 56 counties in seven days.

While in Havre, Donnelly championed small businesses across the state, which he said serve as the backbone of the economy.

His goal is to visit every county in Montana in seven days to get the word out on how local businesses are of great importance, not only to the state, but to local economies.

"So many of our small businesses in Montana have done things to help keep their customers and their employees safe, including physical changes to their layout of their operation," Donnelly said. "Things like the hand sanitizers, the chambers have helped out with."

Operational changes have also been paramount in regaining or driving up business in small communities. Delivery, curbside delivery, pick-up and technological advancements have been the catalyst in keeping businesses intact.

"Boosting online presence and sales, some of the coolest things are like a retailer that did personalized online shopping," Donnelly said. "So she would take her phone and go around her store and shop virtually with her customer. Then she would ship the goods to them."

It's an example of how technology has been a game changer for local businesses and how they operate during COVID-19 while supporting local businesses and steering away from major online retailers such as Amazon, Donnelly said.

"The big thing to do is to highlight some of these changes to make sure that Montana knows that businesses are open, they've done things to keep customers safe, they need to make sales to generate revenues. They are viable parts of the community," he said.

Donnelly said he wants to highlight that local businesses are a major force in Montana's economy and urges Montanans to shop local or eat local.

"We are at the tail end of the holiday shopping season, and it's a perfect time for the community to further come out and support local businesses," Donnelly said. "This really matters, 99 percent of the businesses in Montana are considered small, so they are our communities."

Donnelly had more stops to make Wednesday on his tour, but he said he took away from previous stops that people supporting local businesses has been happening across the state. He has heard stories that had two business owners in tears when they described the support they received from the community.

"For example, one place was a fitness place and a lot of fitness places do a monthly payment subscription, where they charge every month. So she had to close down and felt like, 'Oh gosh, I can't take my customers money' because we're not even open. So she canceled all of that, and within minutes she had people calling and emailing her back to say, 'Don't cancel my subscription, I want you to have the money, I want you to be open when we are done with COVID,' and I was like, wow," Donnelly said.

Donnelly's impetus to travel across the state and spread his message about citizens to support local businesses is so businesses can see profits or to end closures that may have been a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.