Megan Thompson checks on a room of eight cats, including one very friendly feline named Lemmy, who is sprawled across a chair.
Thompson opened her business, Coffee & Purrs, in downtown Sioux City almost one year ago.
“We have a full-service coffee shop, and next door, we have the Cat Café,” she said.
The 20-year-old entrepreneur and others in the city are taking part in Small Business Saturday incentives, including prize giveaways to attract customers.
“Since a lot of people don’t know about our business, we want to get the word out as much as possible,” she said.
Officials say small businesses, including Thompson’s, make up 97% of all businesses in the state.
“Small Business Saturday gives us the opportunity to recognize those small businesses and be very deliberate about getting out to them and supporting them,” said Lisa Shimkat, the State Director for America’s Small Business Development Centers Iowa.
The organization collaborates with public universities and community colleges to provide resources to all of Iowa’s 99 counties.
“It's about also getting into those rural areas; they already have the infrastructure, they already have the folks there, and being able to work hand in hand with them has been crucial to the success of our organization,” she said.
Shimkat says success for businesses comes from the community.
“It could be a restaurant, it could be a massage therapist, it could be a retail store. All of those are what help our entrepreneurial ecosystem across the state," she said. "And it is particularly vital in rural areas.”
Shimkat says people should try and spend money at local businesses, year-round, not just on Small Business Saturday.
“Saturday is one day, but we need to continue to support our small businesses and our entrepreneurs throughout the year because they are the backbone of the economy in the state of Iowa," she said.
In turn, Shimkat says local businesses tend to give back to local groups and organizations. Thompson partners with the Siouxland Humane Society to adopt more cats around the city.
