While Black Friday is considered a national holiday of sorts for shopping sales, the following day is known as “Small Business Saturday,” celebrating and supporting small businesses and all they do for their communities.

Northern Virginia is home to more than 2,200 small companies. More and more, consumers are choosing to shop locally. According to American Express, 93 percent of consumers believe it’s important to support their local small businesses. Small Business Saturday provides a perfect opportunity to do so.

As we continue to recover from the economic downturn in 2008, growing our small businesses will play a critical role in strengthening our economy. Representing 99.7% of all employers, small businesses create half of our nation’s GDP, and are responsible for creating three out of every four new jobs.

Understanding the economic impact of small businesses, I have worked in Congress to promote and provide opportunities for small business growth. This past May, I hosted an event in Falls Church entitled, “A Small Business Summit: Building Bridges between Northern Virginia and Asia,” which helped businesses identify export opportunities in Asia.

While events like “Building Bridges” help companies located within the 8th district, Congress has the opportunity to increase certainty and confidence in the economy for small businesses nationwide. This should be done by addressing the sequester and the looming cuts to vital programs. Large and small companies alike are open to tax increases for the wealthy as a way to avoid falling from this fiscal cliff. The Small Business Majority released the results of a recent survey which found that a majority of small businesses believe that cutting spending for education, health care and infrastructure would hurt the economy more than an income tax increase on the most well off in our society.

Small business is truly the engine that drives the U.S. economy. As I work in Congress to promote small businesses, you can do your part this weekend to help out the small businesses in your community. To find stores in Falls Church and across Northern Virginia participating in Small Business Saturday, please visit https://www.sba.gov/saturday.