Hometown Moments & Memories
22
Adapted and reprinted with permission from The Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national nonprofit organization working to strengthen independent businesses and local economies.
As you make your list and check it twice, consider the benefits of shopping locally for your holiday gifts and needs. By choosing to support locally owned businesses, you contribute to strengthening your neighborhood and sustaining your community. Here are some valuable reasons for supporting locally owned businesses. Protect Local Prosperity - Your support helps your community’s diversity and uniqueness because locally owned businesses link neighbors economically and socially. Local DecisionMaking - Local ownership means that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community.
Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy Locally owned businesses enrich the community because they recycle a large share of their revenue back into the local economy. Jobs and Wages Locally owned businesses create more local jobs and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains. Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs & into the middle class.
Locally owned businesses have a greater impact on enriching the community.
Environmental Sustainability - Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers which are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution. Competition - A marketplace of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices. Product Diversity - Small businesses, each selecting products based on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantee a much broader range of product choices.
