NYS Senate Republicans Archives

December 3, 2023

Since the annual “Small Business Saturday” holiday shopping campaign was launched in 2010, it has been a record-setting success, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and others, generating an estimated total of approximately $184 billion in consumer spending at small businesses nationwide.

Nevertheless, it remains wedged between all the hype surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday and, consequently, the underlying message bears repeating as the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear this December: Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and local job creation. Shop Small. Buy Local.

There is no denying that consumers increasingly go online to do their holiday gift buying nowadays. Yet the closer we get to Christmas Day, the more shoppers still return to “brick-and-mortar retail.” Fortunately, there’s still a shop down the street or around the corner that can turn out to be the best destination for finding that perfect (and meaningful) gift.

NFIB President Brad Close recently wrote, “Every dollar you spend at a small business will find its way back into the community, whether through sponsorships, wages and benefits for local employees, or new jobs. The more you shop at these job creators, the better…Small businesses have accounted for two out of every three jobs over the past 25 years, and they want to keep providing jobs and opportunity. They also want to keep giving back to their communities, as the main sponsors of everything from local sports teams to school events.”

The head of the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) has defined the idea of shopping small this way: “Small businesses are the fabric of our communities. By shopping small…we can support the men and women who are building these amazing small businesses. It’s a chance to say thank you to the small business owners who do so much for our communities.”

Small business owners – in many instances, small business families – play fundamental roles in local economies here at home and, collectively, across New York State and the nation. The SBA notes that over the past two decades small businesses have been responsible for creating two out of every three net new jobs in the country. More than one-half of all of America’s workers and women, according to federal statistics, own or are employed by a small business.

I always look forward to this annual opportunity to recall the following words from the National Federation of Independent Business/NY, “It’s about the entrepreneurs and families who have put everything into stores that offer what the chains and e-commerce companies don’t – something different, something special, from handcrafted gifts to genuinely friendly service…When you shop at a small business, you’re supporting your hometown, your neighborhood and your neighbors.”

A National Retail Federation survey has found that by mid-December, the average consumer has only completed less than half of his or her holiday shopping. With this in mind, as we head out the door in the busy days ahead, there’s nothing to keep us from setting aside at least one stop along the way to support a local small business somewhere across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes.

I look forward to seeing some of you out there, including at one of our local tree farms to give a boost to this vital, locally grown industry. The Empire State is one of America’s largest producers of locally grown and cut Christmas trees. New York ranks fourth in the nation in acres (19,000) dedicated to growing Christmas trees, which generate an estimated $13.8-million economic impact statewide.

Consequently, I’ll close with a reminder for everyone who has not yet put up a holiday tree. The website of the Christmas Tree Farmers Association of New York (CTFANY) makes it convenient to locate one of the state’s 875 tree farms, including numerous farms throughout our region, http://www.christmastreesny.org.

November 4, 2023
By State Senator Tom O’Mara

Let’s start this week with a memory because, in the end, this week will be all about remembering.

With that in mind, I’ll recall former President Ronald Reagan, on June 6, 1984, standing tall on a windswept promontory on the coast of France offering words to commemorate the 40th anniversary of D-Day, “We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.”

Always remember. Always be proud. Freedom. Travel through this region’s individual communities and it’s striking to reflect on the common landmarks that stand equally tall as reminders of the guiding principles and underlying strengths of our nation: town and village halls, county courthouses, churches, elementary schools, local public libraries. These fundamental American places still echo the very reasons for our nation’s founding and her endurance as the world’s great democracy.

Consequently, we can never forget the monuments and memorials that America’s communities have built to honor our veterans. Indeed, there may be no more powerful or poignant landmarks anywhere and later this week, on Veterans Day, we will gather in many of these places to remember.

We’ll be observing this year’s Veterans Day with American troops still bravely engaged in the war against terrorism, and the fight for freedom and democracy across the globe. It will be observed at a time when the world’s stage remains embroiled in uncertainty and instability. It truly is a momentous and dangerous time in world history and our annual tribute to veterans takes on many layers of meaning.

But most of all we still stand proud in local ceremonies around the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions to honor the sacrifices and the victories of our soldiers — past, present, and future. In so doing, we reaffirm our pride in this nation’s armed forces and, of course, we turn our thoughts and prayers to those young soldiers whom we’ve lost from here at home.

Since the tragic unfolding of Sept. 11, 2001, this generation has realized and continues to realize, all too painfully, that our freedom here at home can be threatened at any moment. We realize, as well, that our troops always stand ready to protect freedom again and again. The freedoms we cherish have been hard-won by the soldiers of previous generations and by those of this generation who have continued to serve. They are true American heroes, and we are grateful to every one of them.

Sacrifice is the truth that we remember and honor on Veterans Day, especially today when sacrifice can too often seem an on-the-decline virtue in American life.

To always honor our veterans is the reason that, in 2005, the New York State Senate established a Veterans Hall of Fame. We will induct our class of 2023 later this week, on Thursday, November 9, just days before the nation’s Veterans Day observance on Saturday, November 11. The Senate’s virtual induction ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. and can be viewed on my Senate website, omara.nysenate gov. I’m proud to be inducting Andrew Swarthout of Yates County, a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran and mainstay of local veterans’ organizations, as this year’s representative of the 58th Senate District.

One other way that New York government seeks to constantly honor military service has been through the development of new laws and the administration of programs and services that seek to address the many challenges facing today’s veterans in areas such as health care, employment, and education. The state Division of Veterans’ Affairs (www.veterans.ny.gov) was established in 1945 to assist veterans, members of the armed forces and their families. Since then, the division — in concert with its offices in counties locally and statewide — has strongly advocated for New York’s veterans and veterans’ issues at the local, state, and national levels. It is a proud history of service.

But Veterans Day, more than anything else, draws us to those monuments and memorials in our midst that still, and we hope will always, rise up to honor and remember those who have served and sacrificed.