Today might be black Friday, but tomorrow is Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday hopes to draft off Black Friday, driving people to Mom and Pop businesses after the rush to the big-box stores.

“The Mom and Pop stores of today certainly haven’t gone away. We have, thank goodness, entrepreneurs everyday that have a strong, strong will to want to go out there and open their own business,” National Federal of Independent Business State Director Brad Jones tells the Missourinet.

Jones says the NFIB understands the attraction of the national chains, but he reminds us that small businesses really drive the economy.

“I think it’s important for the public, for all Missourians to go out there on Saturday and support your local small businesses,” Jones says.

Small businesses make a big impact on the Missouri economy. Small firms account for 98% of the state’s employers, according to statistics from the US Small Business Administration. They employ half the state’s private-sector workforce. Jones points out they’re your neighbors and friends as well.

Jones says that while many who start a small business don’t have dreams of making it big, some do. He points out that a couple of German immigrants who wanted to make beer started Anheuser Busch in St. Louis and a guy selling fishing lures out of the back of his liquor store in Springfield founded Bass Pro Shops.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:60 mp3]