BAKERSFIELD, CA. — This year, sixteen Post Offices throughout the Bakersfield, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara areas will participate in Small Business Saturday, taking place on November 30, 2013. Small Business Saturday is a day dedicated to strengthening the community by supporting local small businesses.
The Postal Service will provide shipping for Shop-Small-branded merchandise ordered on ShopSmall.com. In addition, USPS will promote Small Business Saturday to millions of consumers through direct mail, on USPS.com, and in select Post Office locations.
Now in its fourth year, Small Business Saturday serves as the ceremonial kickoff to the holiday shopping season for small businesses across the United States. Small Business Saturday supporters reported spending more than $5.5 billion at independently-owned businesses on that day last year.1
The Postal Service recognizes the importance of supporting small businesses, the jobs they help create, and the culture they instill in local communities. According to the U.S. Small Businesses Administration, as of 2012, small businesses nationwide accounted for 64% of net new private-sector jobs created and represented 99.7% of all employer firms.2
Bakersfield Postmaster Lynda LaForce said, “Now more than ever, our priority is helping small business owners become more competitive. We offer USPS TrackingTM, day-specific delivery information, and up to $100 of free insurance for Priority Mail products.” LaForce added, “We’ve improved our features while maintaining the value and pricing small businesses require from a shipping partner.”
Small business owners can order a shipping kit at www.prioritymail.com/smallbusiness. For more information, go online to www.shopsmall.com or visit participating Post Offices.
Customers can visit http://shopsmallnow.americanexpress.com/ to find participating small businesses in the area.
Post Offices and Stations participating in Small Business Saturday include: East Ventura Station, Ventura, Camarillo Main Office, Oxnard Main Office, Mount McCoy, Simi Valley, Goleta Branch, Santa Barbara, Hanford Main Office, Porterville, Visalia, Paso Robles Main Office, Santa Maria Main Office, Lancaster Main Office, Ridgecrest Main Office, and in Bakersfield, South Bakersfield, Stockdale Finance, Camino Media Station and the Bakersfield Main Office.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
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1 Based on Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey of nationally representative sample of 800 adults conducted by Redshift Research on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and American Express (November 2012).
2 Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy Frequently Asked Questions, September 2012.
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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 152 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With more than 31,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private-sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 42nd in the 2012 Fortune 500. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for seven years and the fourth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
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