Buying local makes a difference

Twice this week I was emailed a link to the 350project.net. The 3/50 Project tagline is “saving the brick and mortars our nation is built on.” The concept is to have people pick their three favorite independently owned businesses and spend a total of $50 with those businesses during the course of each month. The site explains that if 3/4 of the population did this it would generate $42.6 Billion in revenue. Recently a study in Kings County Michigan found that if county residents were to shift 10 percent of their total spending from chains to local businesses, it would create nearly $140 million in new economic activity for the region and 1,600 new jobs. All of us involved in revitalization have long known the importance of spending our money local, but I think what is surprising is how great an impact could be made with just a small change in behavior.

The concept of educating the consumer on the importance of shop local has long been a panacea of the movement, but the question has always been how? How do independent business owners and non-profit organizations compete with the big box marketing budgets to make the case. The facts are there to support the case and people are ready to hear it. Spending more of our money in locally owned businesses would generate higher sales taxes for counties, higher income taxes for cities and some school districts, higher real estate values, more improved historic buildings, greater shopping options, a great quality of life and more money staying in our economy as our spending would go to our neighbors and not out of town. This makes sense to most people, but the challenge is packaging the message so it can be easily conveyed to the masses. My father is a perfect example, he is very patriotic and as a former entrepreneur, values small business.  He would never consider the impact of spending his money locally, it’s not that he doesn’t care, he just doesn’t know.  The big box stores have done such an incredible job of painting themselves as all-American and good for the economy that most people have a hard time considering the downside.

So how do we get the word out? The  3/50 Project message appears to be doing a good job, and it must be catching on, a number of magazines, newspapers and websites have already picked up the story. Social networking tools could prove to make all the difference. Marketing the message through YouTube and Facebook and Twiiter have no real cost, but the ability to reach millions. Maybe 3/50 Project will carry the banner for everyone, the good thing is, it is not a competition. However the message gets out does not matter as long as it gets out. Most likely it will come in multiple forms from various organizations. It is important though that all of us involved in revitalization continue lead through our actions and try to get the message out in our communities. Today the shop independent/shop local message feels like a couple disparate voices in a crowd, but with continued effort in a few years it is going to be a deafening roar from all corners.