As we head into Small Business Season, I’ve been thinking about the messages we typically hear this time of year; reminders to shop local, support local, and invest in the businesses that make our community unique. Those messages matter. But this year, I want to take a slightly different angle. Small Business Season isn’t just about encouraging residents to support local businesses. It’s also about recognizing the partnership between communities and the small businesses within them and the shared responsibility that makes that partnership work.

On the community’s side of the partnership, the message is familiar. Shopping local keeps money circulating close to home. It strengthens our tax base, supports local jobs, and helps ensure that the businesses we love are still here next year. A thriving small business scene makes a town vibrant. It adds character, energy, and identity in ways big-box stores and online shopping never will.

But there is another side of the partnership, too. The part that belongs to the businesses themselves.

Community support isn’t automatic. It’s earned through consistency, quality, good customer service, and delivering the products and services people truly want and need. Being open when people want to shop matters. Creating a welcoming atmosphere matters. And continually adapting to what customers are asking for - whether that’s extended hours, new offerings, improved experiences, or simply a friendly face - matters too. The little things add up.

And here’s the good news: Ellsworth’s small businesses do so much of this incredibly well. I hear it in conversations, I see it in repeat customers, and I see it in how often residents choose local before turning elsewhere. We’re fortunate to have so many entrepreneurs who pour their heart into what they do.

At the same time, this season is a good reminder for all of us (business owners and residents alike) that community prosperity is built on shared effort. When businesses deliver great experiences and customers show up with their support, everybody wins. That’s how strong local economies are built. That’s how we keep downtowns alive. And that’s how communities grow in a way that feels authentic and connected.

This Small Business Season, I encourage everyone to lean into that partnership. Support local when you can. Choose kindness and patience. And to our business owners: keep doing the things that make Ellsworth proud - the service, the quality, the creativity, the hospitality. It matters more than you know.

Strong communities aren’t an accident. They’re built through the everyday choices we all make. And here in Ellsworth, we have every reason to be proud of the foundation we’re building together.