SIX Reasons to GO LOCAL

July 18, 2023

Get the Facts and Take Action!


Here are some of the many benefits of spending your dollars locally!

Graphics available for member use - see bottom of page.

 


STRONGER COMMUNITY

Put your money where your heart is.

Supporting local businesses is good for the community.

Communities with a larger share of local businesses have stronger economic and social relationships, higher levels of civic engagement, and better success solving problems.

Here are some specific examples of the benefits to the community of supporting locally owned businesses:


NURTURE DIVERSITY

Our strength is in our diversity.

Diversity is linked to economic prosperity.

Communities with a larger share of locally owned businesses tend to be more diverse and equitable. They're also linked to higher incomes and less inequality.


JOB CREATION 

Neighbors supporting neighbors.

Locally owned businesses and entrepreneurship are essential to economic vitality - generating more jobs, lifting wages, and making for a more stable community. 

Benefits of entrepreneurship and locally owned businesses:


DITCH THE MEGA RETAILERS 

Buy good things from REAL people.

Compared to online mega-retailers and non-local chains, locally owned businesses reinvest a much larger share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the whole community.


VOTE WITH YOUR DOLLARS

Put your money to work locally.

Community banks and credit unions are a vital part of our economy and our communities.

Locally based financial institutions put your money to work growing the local economy, and back businesses that share a commitment to our community.

Here are some of the benefits of banking locally:

 


BETTER FOR THE PLANET

It’s not just a trend, it’s a sustainable solution.

Communities with a larger share of local businesses help to sustain downtown and neighborhood commercial districts, reducing pollution and improving environmental sustainability.

When we support local businesses, we are helping to create a cleaner, healthier planet for ourselves and future generations.

Locally owned businesses support environmental sustainability in a number of ways:


 

Find more details about the studies mentioned here, and others, by going to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s resource page — Key Studies: Why Local Matters. Additional resources about the importance of independent businesses to the local economy can be found on their Why Local page.

Notes
[1] “Locally Owned: Do Local Business Ownership and Size Matter for Local Economic Well-being?” Anil Rupasingha, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. 2013.
[2] “Wage Inequality and Firm Growth,” Holger M. Mueller et al., LIS Working Paper, 2015.
[3] “The Importance of Young Firms for Economic Growth,” Jason Wiens & Chris Jackson, Entrepreneurship Policy Digest, Kauffman Foundation, 2015.
[4] “Thinking Differently About Development.” Joe Minicozzi, Government Finance Review, 2013.
[5] “The Health and Wealth of US Counties: How the Small Business Environment Impacts Alternative Measures of Development,” Troy C. Blanchard, et al., Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society, 2011.
[6] “Socially Responsible Processes of Small Family Business Owners: Exploratory Evidence from the National Family Business Survey,” Margaret A. Fitzgerald, et al., Journal of Small Business Management, 2010.
[7] “A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health in King County, WA,” Lawrence Frank and Company, The Neighborhood Quality of Life Study, Center for Clean Air Policy, GeoStats, & McCann Consulting, 2005; “Neighborhood stores: An overlooked strategy for fighting global warming” Stacy Mitchell, Grist, 2009.
[8] icba.com

[9] Federal Reserve’s Small Business Credit Survey: Report on Employer Firms


GO LOCAL Business members can download a zip file of these graphics HERE.

Zip file includes all 6 themes, each with a social media-sized square file.