Ron Aldridge, Mississippi state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, says the July 30-31 sales tax holiday will be a big help to small businesses still recovering from the recession.
“Sales tax holidays are great for families trying to stretch a dollar, but they’re also great for small businesses,” Aldridge said. “They get people excited and in the mood to shop, and that’s exactly what our economy needs right now.”

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“We think this year’s sales-tax holiday will really help businesses along the Gulf Coast who’ve been hurt by the drop in tourism since the Deepwater Horizon disaster this spring,” he said.
NFIB/Mississippi, the state’s leading small business association, supported legislation creating the state’s first sales tax holiday in 2009.
“Small business is the engine that drives Mississippi’s economy,” Aldridge said. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account for about 97 percent of all employers in the state and employ about half of the state’s private-sector workforce.
“The bottom line is the more we can increase consumer spending at our small businesses, the more jobs we can grow and save, and the faster our economy will recover,” Aldridge said.
Local merchants who sell clothes and apparel do have the option to participate, Main Street Director Lynn Ryals said.