Shop Local - Keep it Local
Posted on Friday, November 3, 2017
Categories:
Local Economy
Fact: Small
businesses are the largest employer nationally. For every $100 spent with a
locally-owned company, $45 remains in the local economy compared to about $13
per $100 spent with a national company. Local businesses give – on average –
250% more to non-profit organizations than nationally owned companies. Significantly
more money re-circulates in our local communities when purchases are made at
locally-owned businesses.
In the years of our parents, grandparents – even great-grandparents
depending on your youth – the values, viewpoints, and veracious camaraderie that
bonded them all together in local communities became a unique global synergy
that made the United States greater than the sum of its community parts.
Through this synergy, the USA soared to global dominance as a whole. Many
would argue that those community parts were quite different then, than those of
today.
The communities portrayed on early black and white
television shows like Andy Griffith, Little House on the Prairie, Lassie, and
The Waltons, were not pure fiction for sake of entertainment. Rather, they were
a reflection of real American communities in which our predecessors lived and
worked and supported one another. Radio legends like the folksy Paul Harvey trumpeted
personal narratives of the strength and brevity of the small, tightly-knit farming
and industrial communities and their hard-working heroes that built America
from the ground up.
And let us not forget “The Greatest Generation”, those who
grew up in the United States during the deprivation of the Great
Depression, and then went on to fight in World War II, as well as those
whose productivity within the war's home front – mostly women and children
– made a decisive material contribution to the war effort.
The heroes are not all lost in this 21st century.
We still have many heroes among us who toil daily to make America great. I
would argue that you will not find them on YouTube or viral social media posts, however.
But perhaps that opinion arises from my sister forcing me to watch every episode of The
Walton’s, and Andy Griffith back then. Today’s heroes are still found in our farming and
industrial communities, and most certainly in our military. They are merely
masked by the fog and futility of Facebook fame and selfie self-absorption.
When we look past all of that, we still find the
hard-workers who get up before dawn to work their land, and those who open
their local family-owned businesses daily to provide for your lifestyle desires
and practical necessities. The local contractors who build and repair our homes
and businesses and infrastructure. The local manufacturers whose ingenuity
continues to provide parts and pieces and products to drive a strong economy.
Small businesses play a key role in helping communities thrive.
By shopping or dining at our favorite local places throughout the year, we are
showing our support for small businesses and making a positive impact in our
communities. Going local with our
spending by supporting locally-owned, independent businesses causes a
"multiplier effect" that keeps more money recirculating in our
communities.
Top 10
Reasons To Shop Local First!
- Significantly
More Money Re-circulates Here. When you shop at locally owned,
independent businesses more money is kept in the community because local businesses
often purchase from other local businesses, service providers and farms.
Buying locally helps grow other businesses as well as our region's tax
base.
- Non
Profits Receive Greater Support. Non-Profits often receive greater
support from local business owners, sometimes as much as 350% more money,
than they do from non-locally owned businesses.
- Unique
Businesses are an Integral Part of Each Community’s Distinctive Character.
The unique characteristics of each region of the United States are what attracted
people to those communities and will keep them here.
- Environmental
Impact is Reduced. Local businesses make more local purchases
requiring less transportation and usually set up shop in town centers
rather than on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to
sprawl, congestion, habitat loss, resource depletion and pollution.
- Most
New Jobs are Provided by Local Businesses. Small local businesses are
the largest employers nationally.
- Customer
Service is Often Better. Local businesses often hire people with
more specific product expertise and they invest in their employees for
better customer service.
- Local
Business Owners Invest in Our Community. Local businesses are
owned by people who: Live in this community; are less likely to leave;
and are more invested in the community's future.
- Put
Your Taxes to Good Use. Local businesses in city and town
centers require comparatively little infrastructure investments, add more
to our tax base and make more efficient use of public services.
- Competition and Diversity Leads to More Consumer Choices. A marketplace of
thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and
lower prices over the long-term.
- A
growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly
homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to
invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind
businesses and distinctive character.
[Top-10 source: pvlocalfirst.org]
Tagged:shop local, buy local, local economy