Holiday shoppers have plenty of choices in Park City.

But Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council prefer consumers spend their money at small businesses. The City Council at a recent meeting approved a resolution declaring Saturday will be marked as Small Business Saturday in Park City.

The resolution is similar to those approved in previous years in Park City as the Saturday after Thanksgiving approached. The leaders, through the resolution, encourage people to shop at small businesses on the first Saturday of the traditional holiday shopping season. Small businesses in Park City are more apt to be locally owned than the larger ones.

The elected officials did not discuss the resolution at length prior to approving the statement. The resolution says the municipal government “celebrates our local small businesses and the contributions they make to our local economy and community.”

“Park City, Utah, supports our local businesses that create jobs, boost our local economy and preserve our communities,” the resolution says.

The resolution also says the elected officials “urge the residents of our community, and communities across the country, to support small businesses and merchants on Small Business Saturday and throughout the year.”

The resolution indicates there are nearly 1,400 businesses in Park City. The number of those that are considered by City Hall to be small businesses is not listed, though. There are various definitions of small businesses, but a common one pinpoints a maximum of 500 employees. There was only one business in Park City in 2021 – Deer Valley Resort – that topped the 500-employee figure, according to data compiled by City Hall in an annual financial report.

The Park City government has long seen itself as a supporter of small businesses across the community. Much of the attention, though, tends to focus on the Main Street core, where there is a mix of locally owned businesses that are considered to be small and some national chains that are not. Park City, as an example, limits the number of stores classified as conventional chain businesses on Main Street, with different caps for the stretches of street north and south of Heber Avenue.

The Park City Chamber/Bureau said no events are planned in Park City to mark Small Business Saturday. Park City, though, is expected to be busy that day with crowds celebrating the holiday weekend in the mountains.

The traditional holiday shopping season from the day after Thanksgiving to just before Christmas is important to Park City businesses, but that period is not as crucial in the community as it is elsewhere since the core months of the ski season are typically more lucrative for businesses of all sizes.

Small Business Saturday is a national campaign launched by American Express in 2010, at a time when the U.S. economy continued to suffer from the 2007-2009 recession.

“By proclaiming Saturday, November 26, 2022, Small Business Saturday, Park City will be joining in a nationwide effort to steer shoppers toward local independently-owned businesses during the holiday season and urge the residents of our community and communities across the country to support small businesses and merchants throughout the year,” a City Hall report drafted in anticipation of the recent meeting said.