Saturday, Nov. 24, is Small Business Day. We will undoubtedly hear more about that from Ted Natt, The Pilot’s energetic business reporter.

Just when I assumed the Railhouse Brewery deal with Pinehurst over the old steam house was dead in the water, Natt put out a story of small business grit. The owners announced that not only are they hopeful of adding Pinehurst to their address, but they will enlarge their footprint in Aberdeen to keep it their headquarters.

This is good news for both towns, as long as Pinehurst gets off its duff and improves the area as planned.

Habitat for Humanity, whose volunteers can seem to do no wrong, worked outside the box in partnership with Northern Moore Family Resource Center to work around the clock in Robbins doing everything you can imagine.

Who helped to make it possible? Locust Lumber of Southern Pines, another family-owned company reaching out to meet a real need.

Sandhills Heating and Cooling also got a well-deserved writeup recently. They’ve been around here a long time but working out of a barn in Hoke County.

They want to move to Southern Pines, and I hope the local real estate agents mount a collective effort to find them commercial space for free. They will respond by cutting the show-up charge — what cabbies call the meter drop — I’m sure.

We all support small businesses every day of the year.

But let’s go out of our way on Nov. 24 to let these small business owners, managers and staff hear from us that we appreciate their effort to meet our wants and needs.

Bob Bramwell

Pinehurst