An excellent business comes in all shapes and sizes.

Renton has plenty; there are about 2,700 businesses licensed in the city, ranging from in-home day cares to The Boeing Co.

Most are small, where the owner is also the operator who likely has invested his or her life’s savings to provide goods and services to us, their customers. They’re risking everything; they deserve our support.

Some businesses have the backing of a larger corporation, which helps, but still, each one has to stand on its own. There are no free rides in the business world, especially in these tough economic times.

So it makes sense, again, to talk about the consumers’ role in helping these businesses to survive and thrive. They make it possible for about 44,500 people to earn a paycheck in Renton.

Renton’s economy – its marketplace – isn’t static. It’s in constant motion. That’s how it survives. Think of all those dollars and cents (and credit cards and debit cards) as the economy’s circulation system, its lifeblood. Goods and services move freely between seller and buyer; money changes hands by the minute; I buy a sandwich or a mocha from someone who happens to advertise with the Renton Reporter.

In other words, a chunk of Renton’s economy is consumer-driven. (I am not talking about taxes here, but certainly all those consumer transactions generate a sales tax, which is one of city government’s key sources of revenue.)

So, where is all this headed? The same place we’ve been before.

SHOP LOCALLY. Spend your dollars in Renton. Keep the city’s economy whirling.

And please don’t feel like there’s no one watching out for city’s businesses. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The City of Renton is committed to helping all businesses thrive and certainly the Renton Chamber of Commerce is on their side.

Please count the Renton Reporter in that group, too. We’re part of the great circulation system. We help businesses (at a cost, of course) tell their stories and sell their goods and services through advertising. I like to say we’re in the business of creating “buzz” about what’s happening in Renton. We do that on news side, too.

Businesses are getting creative in attracting consumers through their doors, with good deals, and with the help of the city, the chamber and the Renton Reporter. More on that later. BUT WATCH FOR THE CURVECARD.

So let me circle back to where this column began, and then I’ll let you get back to your shopping (locally, of course).

Four businesses (including the Renton Reporter. Thank you.) and one nonprofit organization were recognized last week in the Renton Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. (See photos of the winners on page 19 of today’s Renton Reporter.) There were 10 other nominees, all of which deserved to win. (The food was a winner at the Tea Palace in the Highlands, too.)

And the excellence doesn’t stop with those 15 nominated businesses. There are about 2,700 businesses in Renton. Patronize them, too.