See if the prices are compatible
See if the service is as good,
and whenever it makes sense...
BUY LOCAL
Why does local ownership matter?
Local businesses are created by people in our community to fill our particular needs. Having the owner of a business live in town does not necessarily make that person wonderful, but it does tend to make them want to please the community in return for patronage. A local business owner has local roots — they can't easily pick up and move operations elsewhere, tearing a hole in the economic fabric of the town by removing jobs. Locally owned businesses are usually more willing than non-local businesses to stay and continue adapting and improving their business model as the community's needs change.
What are the benefits of supporting local businesses?
Local businesses are superior generators of wealth for the community. Every dollar spent at one local business stays in town a little longer as profit for other local businesses. Local businesses that expand create jobs at all pay levels. Every dollar spent locally also furthers the possibility that some of our unique businesses will grow and perhaps expand out of our area, as some already have done — bringing outside dollars into our communities.
Local businesses tend to give more to community causes and support local media. Many of the non-profit organizations that serve our communities are supported largely by local businesses, and our local radio stations, newspapers, and television stations are kept alive by local business advertisements.
Local business owners and employees often have more knowledge and expertise. The benefit of going to a local business for a product or service is that local businesses often specialize. This creates better customer service. Music-store owners know a great deal about music, trade businesses usually have expertise specific to the area when it comes to building or repairing structures, florists know flowers, and small hardware-store owners know tools. Sometimes it is better to pay a little more once for a quality product or service than twice for an inferior one.
Local businesses generally require less infrastructure investment. With a smaller footprint, local businesses tend to require less from our governments in the way of infrastructure services. This lowers both the initial and ongoing maintenance costs to taxpayers.
Local businesses usually have less of an environmental impact. Local businesses generally set up in the center of town or in existing commercial corridors. Local businesses often also buy locally produced products, services, and materials, cutting down on pollution caused by transporting goods around the world. Local manufacturing facilities and industries are also restricted by our laws as to the amount of environmental damage they can legally cause, and local business contracts keep some of these industries afloat.
Local businesses provide the most new jobs nationally, and new local businesses have the potential to create high-paying jobs in the form of business ownership. Local businesses can also collectively achieve a larger local economy by finding new small niches that are often missed by non-local businesses.
Local is where most business starts. By supporting a large and diverse body of businesses, we will create cases of success. Many local businesses may fail on their own merits, but allowing non-local business to dominate our region and drive out local businesses reduces our chances of creating successful businesses. As locally owned businesses expand into other areas more money is brought into our region.
In Western North Carolina some of our local businesses also bring in outside money. From river-rafting guides to restaurants and fine craft shops, some of our favorite businesses also receive a lot of support from people visiting the area. Many of these businesses, however, would not exist without regular patronage. That would mean fewer dollars flowing into the area from visitors who want to see the beauty of the area and the charm of our regions many main streets.
Take the time to think of the locally owned businesses in your area. Think Local First before you purchase at a non-local business. Do your homework — see if a local business can provide the same product at a reasonable price. If so, support your neighbor. Make the choice to keep the businesses created by our community alive and well. Keep the dollars that we have in the area, and help to increase the wealth of everyone in our community.
The more dollars we can keep around, the better our schools will be; the more we can support community causes; the more wealth we can depend on; the more we can begin to produce enterprises created by people within our community to fill our wants and needs.
That is the Buy Local plan: Bring money into the area through local business growth — and keep it circulating here awhile through local-business support networks.