Doing Business Locally

An article available on the American Independent Business Alliance's web site entitled The Benefits of Doing Business Locally is a must-read for anyone concerned with their local community.  The article begins:

From rural to urban areas, an ever-growing chorus of citizens laments losing a sense of community.  This trend is considered symptomatic of our loss of community orientation, but could it also be a primary cause?  And how is our economic well-being impacted?

The article goes on to point out the social and economic void that's created when local businesses disappear. 

Local governments are often pursuaded to give public funds and tax breaks to national chains based on the promise of new jobs and tax revenues.  What the officials fail to understand is that the new jobs aren't new at all.  They're just replacements for jobs that are lost in the area.  Often these "new" jobs are part-time at lower pay and with less benefits than the jobs they're replacing.  The increased sales can also be an illusion as they just replace sales that were already occurring in the marketplace.

A 2003 study on economic impact in Austin, TX concluded that for every $100.00 spent at a national chain, $13.00 remained in the local community while $45.00 of every $100.00 spent with a local business stayed there.

Originally posted May 23, 2006]

An article available on the American Independent Business Alliance's web site entitled The Benefits of Doing Business Locally is a must-read for anyone concerned with their local community.  The article begins:

From rural to urban areas, an ever-growing chorus of citizens laments losing a sense of community.  This trend is considered symptomatic of our loss of community orientation, but could it also be a primary cause?  And how is our economic well-being impacted?

The article goes on to point out the social and economic void that's created when local businesses disappear. 

Local governments are often pursuaded to give public funds and tax breaks to national chains based on the promise of new jobs and tax revenues.  What the officials fail to understand is that the new jobs aren't new at all.  They're just replacements for jobs that are lost in the area.  Often these "new" jobs are part-time at lower pay and with less benefits than the jobs they're replacing.  The increased sales can also be an illusion as they just replace sales that were already occurring in the marketplace.

A 2003 study on economic impact in Austin, TX concluded that for every $100.00 spent at a national chain, $13.00 remained in the local community while $45.00 of every $100.00 spent with a local business stayed there.

Originally posted May 23, 2006]