Press Release: Small Businesses are the Heart of Idaho – On Friday, Support Local Gems
By Press Release • June 6, 2023The following press release was sent out by the office of US Senator Jim Risch. Press releases do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of those at the Idaho Dispatch.
By U.S. Senator Jim Risch and Governor Brad Little
Small businesses are a huge driver of Idaho’s economy. They employ our friends and neighbors, showcase our state’s creativity and values, provide invaluable goods and services, and epitomize what makes the Gem State great.
We are proud to once again celebrate the small businesses that make Idaho special with our Support Local Gems initiative.
On Friday, June 9th, join our initiative and support your favorite small businesses that contribute to our state’s economy, workforce, communities, and way of life in the Gem State. June 9th is an all-day celebration of the restaurants, retailers, shops, boutiques, and small businesses across Idaho that make our communities thrive.
There are many ways to Support Local Gems: stop by your favorite small business, purchase a gift card for yourself or a friend, or dine at a local restaurant. Even small gestures like writing a review online, posting on social media about your favorite Idaho shop, or simply saying thank you to a small business owner can have far reaching impacts.
Our small businesses have done an exceptional job adapting to the challenges of the last few years while maintaining the heart of Idaho, and the Support Local Gems initiative is an opportunity for all Idahoans to support these businesses just as they have supported us.
We live in a special place. To keep Idaho special, we need to help our small businesses thrive. Let’s do our part by supporting these gems every chance we get to ensure these businesses are here for future generations. We hope you’ll join us this Friday and Support Local Gems.
In 2020, Idaho’s small businesses faced unprecedented hardships as they worked to remain viable through the pandemic. In an effort to support them, Senator Jim Risch and the Idaho Department of Commerce launched Support Local Gems to encourage Idahoans to shop and dine locally. On the fourth annual Support Local Gems initiative, Idahoans are encouraged to once again give their full support to the small businesses – the local gems – that make Idaho a special place to live and grow.
If your organization or small business would like to get involved in the Support Local Gems initiative, visit www.risch.senate.gov
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Tags: Brad Little, Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho Governor, Idaho Small Businesses, Initiative, Jim Risch, Support Local Gems, US Senator
Of course small businesses are important to Idaho! Support for them is needed and desired, absolutely. What I find staggeringly hypocritical is that our current governor did so much to prevent those same small businesses to thrive (as he now has added his name to an article saying he wants to “support?!!”) back in 2020 when they and the rest of us all were desperate to just live our lives!
The tyrannical approach utilized then in regard to so many of those “essential” businesses and workers has now been twisted around, I believe, in an effort to be spun into an attempt to try and appear “supportive,” and it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb in my mind.
They should be ashamed, but are apparently hoping that no one will remember…in that they are so very wrong. Dead wrong…I hope that Idahoans will not forget when subsequent elections afford opportunity to rid our state government of the corruption that has led to unreasonable levels of taxation on property, the very existence of a tax on food and a laundry list of other excessive governmental invasive intrusions(!!!), etc.
I…will remember.
The illustrious Senator Risch is also the sponsor of S.1240 – Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Candidate Country Reform Act. It’s not reform. it’s an expansion of the number of countries that will qualify for grant funds through the MCC from 80 to over 100 (115?) depending on where the World Bank sets the criteria for qualification.
I found out about that from watching the US Global Leadership Coalition Forum 2023. (USGLC)
So go ahead and celebrate the peanuts he’s tossing at Idaho’s small businesses while he is going to expand a grant program for foreign countries that will benefit tech companies and most probably will hurt Idaho’s economy. Why? Because the foreign policy of the U.S. is to “build markets” in poor countries. What does that mean? It means that businesses in foreign countries are funded so that they can produce products to sell into the U.S. so that the foreign country will have money to buy American products – keeping in mind, we’re talking about poor countries (as if they are going to buy American products… yeah).