Pictured (L-R): Donna Duperron, Pres. & CEO, Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce; Melinda Fox, Merle Norman Cosmetics; Mark Comon, Paul’s Photo; Connor Hartwell, Hartwell Financial Services; Martin Vasquez, Mezontle Mexican Grill; Mayor Pro Tem George Chen, City of Torrance.
This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to accompany four small business representatives to a Torrance City Council meeting. Melinda Fox, Merle Norman Cosmetics; Martin Vasquez, Mezontle Mexican Grill; Mark Comon, Paul’s Photo and Connor Hartwell, Hartwell Financial Services were presented a Proclamation from Mayor Pro Tem George Chen to celebrate our local small businesses and the contributions they make to our local economy and community. According to the Small Business Administration, there are currently over 30 million small businesses in the United States and small businesses create two out of every three net jobs.
Additionally, Mayor Pro Tem Chen urged residents and communities across the country to support small businesses and merchants on Small Business Saturday.
Launched in 2019, Small Business Saturday is an effort to increase sales for smaller businesses during a time of year when big box stores (Black Friday) and e-commerce (Cyber Monday) dominated. The day was unanimously supported by the United States Senate in 2011 and is now also known as the Shop Small Movement.
The Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce has expanded upon the idea by creating Small Business Week, which encourages residents to shop local. During this time, many small businesses in Torrance will place discounts on their goods and services. For a listing of Shop Local, Small Business Week participants please Click here