In effort to support our neighborhood communities, we encourage purchasing goods and supplies from our local small businesses and restaurants. There has been a lot of research to demonstrate that buying from local small businesses and restaurants helps our neighborhoods and local community. In fact, it has a significant economic impact as indicated by the studies below.
Did you know?
“Going Local: Quantifying the Economic Impacts of Buying from Locally Owned Businesses in Portland, Maine.” Garrett Martin and Amar Patel, Maine Center for Economic Policy, Dec. 2011.
On a dollar-for-dollar basis, the local economic impact of independently owned businesses is significantly greater than that of national chains, this study concludes. Analyzing data collected from 28 locally owned retail businesses in Portland, Maine, along with corporate filings for a representative national chain, the researchers found that every $100 spent at locally owned businesses contributes an additional $58 to the local economy. By comparison, $100 spent at a chain store in Portland yields just $33 in local economic impact. The study concludes that, if residents of the region were to shift 10 percent of their spending from chains to locally owned businesses, it would generate $127 million in additional local economic activity and 874 new jobs.
Measuring the total economic impact of this difference, including indirect and induced activity, another study estimates that $1 million spent at chain restaurants produces about $600,000 in additional local economic activity and supports 10 jobs. Spending $1 million at local restaurants, meanwhile, generates over $900,000 in added local economic activity and supports 15 jobs. “Local Works: Examining the Impact of Local Business on the West Michigan Economy” [PDF]. Civic Economics, Sept. 20
For more information, visit the resources at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) at https://ilsr.org/key-studies-why-local-matters/#2
