When we have asked people to name their favorite restaurant, coffee shop, bakery, etc. the responses are almost always a local, unique business.  Those businesses define our sense of place, but we often forget their survival depends on our patronage.  Local business owners, typically having invested much of their life savings in their businesses, have a natural interest in the long-term health of the community and they are also essential to the mission of many of our local non-profit and charitable organizations. 

It is important for people to buy local for a variety of reasons.  Shopping at small, local businesses can have a significant impact on the local economy.  Businesses pay sales tax to the city and county where they are located.  Those tax dollars come back to the community and help fund essential services, such as police and fire departments, schools, recreation, and infrastructure. 

Small local businesses also provide job opportunities for local residents. The advantage of a small local business employing local residents creates a domino effect that helps the community as a whole.  Local jobs keep residents in town during their shift, so the advantages multiply outward as employees spend money at the local restaurant during breaks, when they gas up at the local station on their way to or from work and make stops at the local grocery store on their way home at night.  Plus, because of a business owner’s personal involvement with the community, they will strive to provide the best service possible to their customers. 

Independent local businesses also employ an array of supporting services.  Aside from providing local job opportunities, small, local businesses support the area through their everyday needs. They hire architects, designers, and computer consultants.  They open accounts at local banks, hire local CPAs and attorneys and when they need supplies, they can step down the street to get them quickly. 

According to Time Magazine, buying closer to home may be more than a feel-good, it’s-worth-paying-more-for-local matter.  A number of researchers and organizations are taking a closer look at how money flows, and what they are finding shows the profound economic impact of keeping money in town…and how the fate of many communities around the nation and the world increasingly depend on it. 

When you shop locally, you are supporting members of your own community who are also vested in the health and success of the community.  As a bonus, you are also helping decrease the negative impacts on the environment by travelling less meaning less carbon, less pollution, and less traffic congestion. 

Each time we spend a dollar, we would do well to weigh the full value of our choices, not solely to ourselves immediately, but for the future we want in our own hometowns.  So, this holiday season, and every day, remember think local first, buy local when you can, and support your community and yourself!