About five years ago, my husband started a small manufacturing company. At the time, he made a commitment to selling American-made products that are fabricated from American-made raw materials.

It is increasingly hard for him to find American manufacturers that are making raw input products like steel, nylon, and even plastic bags. And, those that exist struggle to remain cost competitive.

From healthcare costs to the skilled trades gap to burdensome tax codes, it’s hard to be a small business. For capital and labor intensive manufacturing companies, it’s even more challenging.

The challenges our local businesses face don’t just impact local businesses. Rural economies, in particular, are vulnerable to changes in the health of their business community.

I grew up in a small town in western Iowa. We had one major employer, the largest family-owned ice cream and frozen treat manufacturer in the United States. When they cut jobs, the entire community suffered. Had they closed their doors, the community would have closed down with them.

The lifeblood of many small towns is their local business community. That’s important. It matters. And, rural communities need to fight for that.

Here at Cherryland, we are trying to support small businesses and local manufacturers, as well. We do so through programs like our economic development loan program. Since 2008, this USDA-funded, Cherryland-administered loan program has helped 22 local companies expand their businesses through almost $2.2 million in zero-interest loans. These expansions created more than 300 jobs right here in our community.

Just as importantly, we support our local businesses by fighting to keep their electricity affordable and reliable. Sometimes the fight is internal as we try to squeeze the maximum impact out of every penny and keep our costs low. Other times, the conflict is external, as we advocate against policies and regulations that might drive up power costs or threaten system reliability.

Here in the Grand Traverse region, we are lucky to have several major employers, a thriving small business sector, and healthy agriculture and tourism industries. We owe it to these small business owners and economy builders to show them our support and not take their local economic impact for granted.