In 2010, American Express created Small Business Saturday, a new shopping day right after Black Friday, to help small businesses get what they needed most: more customers. And it was huge.

But 2011 would be the real test. Was Small Business Saturday just a one off event or would it become an ongoing holiday shopping tradition?

To help it become a permanent fixture on the calendar, American Express brought together business owners, consumers, government officials, even big corporations to rally behind a day to drive business to small business.They created a set of tools to let business owners own the day. They were able to do everything from print a poster to make a Facebook page for their business. American Express also created tools to help consumers find local businesses and map out where they could shop small.

In the end, the second annual Small Business Saturday was even bigger than year one, becoming a top 10 trending topic on Twitter and reaching 2.7 million “likes” on Facebook, more than double the year before. What’s more, it even became an official day. The United States Senate unanimously passed a resolution declaring November 26, 2011 to be Small Business Saturday.

Most importantly, 103 million Americans proudly shopped small, including President Obama. In just over a year, Small Business Saturday went from a day that didn’t exist to cementing its place as a permanent part of the holiday shopping calendar.