The province of Saskatchewan is promoting the Business Development Bank of Canada's (BDC) Small Business Week.

According to the province, Swift Current's Rittinger's Men's Wear is one of just over 146,000 small businesses in Saskatchewan.

Brock Friesen, the owner of Rittinger's, is proud to be a part of such a vast small business network, with many working towards supporting each other.

"I just think it's important that a lot of people recognize that the people that run these small businesses are people who support all the businesses in their area, in their city," he said. "We give back to a lot of community-run programs too."

He went on to add locally, a lot of small businesses support things like minor sports, mental health initiatives, and schooling programs.

Speaking from the Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce perspective, he said it's a tight-knit small business community in the southwest.

"Being on the Chamber, we've made a spotlight for shopping local," he said. "I think that just draws more awareness and attention to our businesses here that have been here for a long time and we don't want to see them go away. We want authentic services and authentic products, we want something that is personable, something that can almost relate to almost everybody and we don't want you going out of the city."

He has served as chairperson for the Chamber in past years and is currently a director on the board.