According to the website U.S. Census Quickfacts, there are some interesting numbers which make TryLocalFirst a compelling project.
The table below lists some key Census estimates from the six counties which make up the key counties in East Mississippi.
| Census Facts For East Mississippi | Clarke County | Jasper County | Newton County | Neshoba County | Kemper County | Lauderdale County | TOTALS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population Estimates, July 1 2021, (V2021) | 15,421 | 16,291 | 21,056 | 28,993 | 8,829 | 72,088 | 162,678 |
| Population over the age of 18 | 72.10% | 71.10% | 68.80% | 64.60% | 76.60% | 70.60% | 113,575 |
| Total employer establishments, 2020 | 216 | 197 | 317 | 483 | 111 | 1,809 | 3,133 |
| Total nonemployer establishments, 2019 | 1,055 | 1,097 | 1,360 | 1,880 | 643 | 5,124 | 11,159 |
The key items important to TryLocalFirst are the last two rows.
If you add the total businesses with employees to the total businesses without employees located in all six counties, you’ll find that there are 14,292 businesses in our community. National estimates are that smaller, locally-owned businesses account for 44% all the businesses in the U.S.
Therefore, on top of having more than 14,000 businesses in our local community, we can estimate that of those at least 6,288 small, locally owned businesses in East Mississippi.
One question we believe is worth asking is: “With so many local vendors in our community, what are the odds you can find what you need locally?”
A bigger question might be this: “How do you find the perfect local vendor?”
The best answer is:
