When we check business news each day， it’s usually big companies that dominate the headlines. We see layoffs by Tesla， a contract won by Lockheed Martin， a company acquired by General Motors， or a new innovation from General Electric. It’s true that large businesses are seeing their market share increase in a wide range of industries in recent years. However， despite the relative absence of small businesses from the headlines， they drive a considerable portion of the American economy.

每天浏览商业新闻时，通常都是大企业的相关报道占据着各大头条。我们在新闻上可看到特斯拉裁员、洛克希德·马丁赢下大合同、通用汽车收购某公司或者通用电气发布一项创新产品。的确，近年来，在多个不同行业，大公司的市场份额都有所增长。然而，即便相对而言小公司出现在头条新闻中的次数不多，但他们依然在美国经济中占据着不可忽视的一部分。

Small businesses’ economic impact

小企业对经济的影响

Small businesses are an important economic engine for both local communities and the national economy.

小企业是驱动本地社区和国家经济发展的重要引擎。

A widely cited 2019 report from the U.S. Small Business Administration found that small businesses generated 44% of all economic activity in the country. That same year， small businesses created two-thirds of all jobs in the U.S. In a post-pandemic world， small businesses have been the backbone of economic recovery and job growth.

美国小企业管理局2019年发布的一份报告被广泛引用，该报告显示，整个美国44%的经济活动来自小企业。同年，小企业为美国创造了2/3的就业岗位。在后疫情时代，小企业成为了经济复苏和就业增长的重要支柱。

“Small， locally owned businesses and startups tend to generate higher incomes for people in a community than big， nonlocal firms， which can actually depress local economies，” said Stephan Goetz， professor of agricultural and regional economics at Penn State and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development， in a statement published alongside the research.

与报告共同发表的还有一份声明，该声明由宾夕法尼亚州立大学农业和区域经济学教授、东北地区农业发展中心主任斯蒂芬·戈茨撰写，他提到：“相比于大型非本地企业来说，小型的本地企业和初创公司通常会给当地人提供更高的收入——前者反而往往会抑制本地经济发展。”

Goetz said his research shows that small businesses directly benefit local economies—much more so than large businesses. This is because big box and large corporations have internal systems for services such as accounting， legal， supply and maintenance that are not necessarily based within the county or state. Small businesses， on the other hand， have to outsource these functions and usually do so to professionals within their local or regional communities—professionals who are likely to spend that money in the same community.

戈茨说，他的研究成果显示，与大企业相比，小企业为本地经济带来的直接好处要大得多。原因在于，大型连锁零售商和大企业有内部职能系统，比如会计部、法务部、采购部和维修部等，而这些业务通常并不设在本县或本州。小企业则不得不将这些职能外包给当地或本区域的专业人士，而这些专业人士通常会在本地进行消费。

How small businesses benefit local economies

小企业如何造福本地经济

Small business has long been seen as a boon to local economies， but why is that？ Small businesses help boost a community’s broader economy in several concrete ways that bigger businesses cannot. Here are three ways small businesses contribute to the economy.

一直以来，人们都认为小企业造福了当地经济，这是为什么呢？因为小企业会通过多种实打实的方式推动本地整体经济发展，而大公司却无法做到。