President Barack Obama designated June 17 to 21 to be the 2013 National Small Business Week. First declared in 1963 by President John F. Kennedy, National Small Business Week celebrates small business owners all around the country for the work that they do to help strengthen the economy both locally and nationally. This year marks the 50th anniversary of National Small Business Week, and in the wake of an impressive anniversary I want to salute the small business owners in our industry.
Majority of vending is small business.
According to The White House Blog, small businesses create two out of three net new private sector jobs in the U.S. economy, and half of all working Americans either own or work for small businesses. Automatic Merchandiser magazine and VendingMarketWatch.com data shows that 71 percent of the vending, micro market and coffee service operators fit into this category. The work they do is immensely important to helping sustain a fragile, but growing U.S. economy.
In light of the 2013 State Of The Vending Industry Report: The Wait For Recovery Is Over, published the June issue of Automatic Merchandiser and in Wednesday’s VendingMarketWatch.com Daily Update, and National Small Business Week, it seems appropriate to applaud operators nationwide on a tough job well done. Sticking with the small business theme, the report stated that medium operations ($1 to $4.9 million in annual sales) grew not only in revenue, but also in size of staff. More locations were able to hire more employees, mostly in delivery. While this revenue is contributed in large part to raising prices, operators overall worked hard and successfully to reverse the downward trend in the industry from previous years. That’s worth noting. I would be remiss without taking the opportunity to honor them — the same way Washington and the rest of America has honored small business as a whole. Small businesses are a cornerstone in this country and a semblance of the American Dream, and we have small business owners, like operators, to thank for that.
