A new small business survey from Main Street America reveals that small-scale manufacturers are a major driver of economic activity.
In an op-ed in Next City, Ilana Preuss uses the survey results to make the case that cities should do more to support small ‘maker’ businesses as part of their economic development strategy. According to the survey, “1% of maker businesses say that they supply goods to other local businesses as compared to 13% of non-makers.” The survey also found that 69% of makers use local vendors as compared to 53% of other businesses.
For Preuss, “This data adds a vital new dimension to the extent of our understanding of the role of product businesses or small-scale manufacturers in economic revitalization. It also underscores the priority of investing in programming and space for these businesses that spend locally and invest locally — unlike national chains which are usually extractive and do not contribute to the creation of destinations because they are hardly unique.”
