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NOVEMBER 27, 2013 | 53

COMMUNITY WHITEFISH
Your Holiday Party

Shop Small on Saturday and Everyday!
Destination!

bigger is always better – the U.S. Small Book your private holiday gathering in our
By KEVIN GARTLAND
dining room or basement bar with a custom
Business Administration considers your
With the holiday shopping season business to be “small” as long as you menu, wine pairings and spirits.
set to oicially begin sometime between don’t have more than 500 employees RESERVE NOW, space is filling up fast!
now and the time you mop-up the last of on staf. By contrast, here in Whiteish
your turkey gravy on Thursday night, we’ve got about 800 active businesses,
the focus of media attention world-wide and you can count the number of compa-
will be on the throngs of half-frozen bar- nies with 250 employees on one hand. I’d

gain hunters camped out all night at the estimate that 85 percent of our business-
big box stores, and the frenzied free-for- es have less than 25 folks on the payroll,
all that follows when the doors to the and a big chuck of those have less than
retail behemoths are either opened or 10.
beaten down.
So certainly support our “small”
Here in Whiteish, the scene will be businesses this Saturday, but make sure
a bit diferent. Early morning shoppers you do it all year ‘round.
will irst hit Cofee Traders, the Buf-

falo Cafe or Swift Creek for a leisurely THANKS, OKTOBERFESTERS!
brunch, then take their time browsing There’s much to be grateful for this
the shops, stores and galleries, pausing time of year – for our friends, families,
occasionally to visit with friends on the our community and the folks who make
street, catching up on what happened Whiteish such a wonderful place to call
this summer and the prospects for an- home. We at the Chamber want to take
other spectacular Whiteish winter.
just a minute to thank everyone who at-

The rest of the country celebrates tended, volunteered at and/or sponsored
“Small Business Saturday” this week – this year’s Great Northwest Oktober-
another of those so-called “Hallmark fest, and not just for coming out and hav-
Holidays,” this one designed with com- ing a good time.
merce in mind. On this one day each This year, the Chamber – and its
year, American Express and all its cor- Oktoberfest volunteers – raised nearly
porate partners encourage folks like you $3,000 for a handful of Flathead Val- 147 Central Avenue | Downtown Whitefish
and me to get out and support the small ley charities, including the North Val- 406.863.2323 | latitude48bistro.com

businessmen (and women) of our com- ley Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity
munity. And that’s a laudable goal.
and the Animal Shelter. All of the “tips”
But when you really stop to think of earned each night at the Oktoberfest bar
it, every day is Small Business Saturday were donated to one of the many worthy
here in Whiteish, and, for that matter, causes that abound here in Whiteish
in most of Montana. And that’s because, and the surrounding area. In all, more
with a couple of notable exceptions, ev- than 25 percent of the net proceeds from
ery business in the city of Whiteish is the two-week event went to beneit local

technically a small business.
charities.
That begs the question: “Just what, In addition, Oktoberfest attend-
exactly, is a ‘small’ business?”
ees turned out in record numbers on
Like just about everything else these the opening evening of the event, and
days, that depends on who you talk to. A brought with them more than 1,500 cans
quick Google search reveals that in Aus- of food that went directly to the North
tralia, a business is considered “small” if Valley Food Bank, providing much-

it has 15 employees or less. In the Euro- needed help for local families who need
pean Union, the number’s a bit bigger – if a hand at the holidays.
you have 50 workers or less, you qualify On behalf of the chamber staf and
as a small business.
board of directors – thank you, White-
Here in the good ol’ USA – where
ish! And Prost!