Text Box: Local Businesses Support Local Economies!

Economics:

 

  Economic studies conclude what we all know - that local independent businesses re-invest far more money in their local economies than chain stores do.

 

One such study concluded that for every $100 spent in their stores, local businesses give back $73 to their local economy, while for every $100 spent in national chains, those companies return only $43, meaning that chain stores take away $57 from that same local economy.   [ See www.andersonvillestudy.com] 

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Why Local?

 

If you are concerned about strengthening the quality of life in Oscoda's neighborhoods and the economic vitality of the Oscoda area, you need to consider the positive impact you have when you buy from independent, locally owned businesses.

 

Whether you are  purchasing products or services as an individual or for an organization, choosing a locally owned business:

· Keeps more dollars in our community

· Supports and strengthens local jobs and businesses

· Preserves and enhances our unique neighborhoods

· Cuts down on fuel consumption. Buying locally produced goods reduces the need to ship goods from thousands of miles away and also cuts down on the distances shoppers travel.
Text Box: Humorous video on chain stores (use back button to return)

Need more details?

There are many well-documented benefits to our communities and to each of us in choosing independent, locally owned businesses.

Here’s why.

Locally owned businesses:

 

· Spend more money at other local businesses helping the local economy grow – creating a “multiplier effect” - rather than this money “leaking out” through remote corporate headquarters and centralized purchasing departments

 

· Spend more money at other local businesses helping the local economy grow – creating a “multiplier effect” - rather than this money “leaking out” through remote corporate headquarters and centralized purchasing departments

 

· Pay more in local and state taxes than outside corporations

 

· Are part of what makes Oscoda unique and distinctive, attracting tourism from surrounding areas and out of state

 

· Make up the largest employer category, nationally and locally

 

· Give better customer service overall

 

· Have owners that live in the communities they do business in and are free to make decisions based on local needs

 

· Require less public investment than large employers seeking tax breaks or special zoning consideration.

 

It is not always possible to buy everything you need from locally owned businesses, but if everyone purchased one more item locally when they shopped, the effects would be tremendous. The point is to encourage people to think Local First: choose locally owned businesses when choosing where to buy goods and services!

 
Text Box: Survival: When asked to name our favorite restaurant, cafe, or shop, Oscoda residents typically select one of our unique local businesses. Those businesses define our sense of place, but we often forget their survival depends on our patronage. Local owners, typically having invested much of their life savings in their businesses, have a natural interest in the community's long-term health. Community-based businesses are essential to charitable endeavors, and their owners frequently serve on local boards and support numerous causes. As we spend money in our community, we are voting for the kind of community we want. When we support a business with our purchases, we need to remember the future we want for our home town.

To find out more about the role that supporting locally-owned, independent business plays in creating a vibrant community, you can look these online resources:

The Hometown Advantage has a good listing of economic impact studies on retail which includes the: 

"Andersonville Study of Retail Economics," created by Civic Economics, an independent economics consulting firm. The study compares the local economic impact of ten locally-owned Andersonville businesses versus ten chain stores in the same industries. See www.andersonvillestudy.com

"Business Contributions to Community Service" In 1991, Dr. Patricia Frishkoff, Director of the Family Business Program at Oregon State University, completed a study of charitable giving by 182 businesses in four communities. She combined cash donations with the value of in-kind contributions and found that the small businesses were more generous. Companies with fewer than 100 employees gave an average of $789 per employee, compared to $334 per employee at firms with more than 500 employees. The 128 small businesses studied donated a combined total of $2.5 million to charitable causes.

 

NEF in the UK offers two tools to enable deprived urban and rural communities to make the money that enters their local economies work much, much harder than it currently does. The two tools Plugging the Leaks and Local Multiplier 3 (LM3) are  community-led economic development strategy tools. Plugging the Leaks stems from a one-day economic literacy workshop that enables a community to identify the economic resources in their local economy and determine ways to use them more effectively and Local Multiplier 3 (LM3) is an impact measurement tool that enables organizational leaders – from social enterprises to businesses to local authorities – to measure how income to their organization or initiative is spent and re-spent in the local economy, especially when that local economy is in need of regeneration.          

 

The Hartman Group provides advice on the marketing implications of "buy local" in their free HartBeat newsletter.