Pledge could save jobs
Toolbox
By CLAIRE BENEDICT - Published: June 21, 2009
The "shop locally" campaigns that are in vogue these days are very much a measure of our changing economic times. Americans have learned the hard way that a strong stock market doesn't necessarily mean a strong economy and that an easy-to-get mortgage does not equal a healthy real estate market. We've come to the realization that we have to find new methods to measure our success.
With the reality that the global economy has failed our communities, it is time to re-evaluate whether a cheap price tag should be our only measure of value. Purchasing products on the internet may seem cheap but can exact a high cost as such purchases put zero tax dollars into our own communities. This leaves locally owned businesses that support and drive the local economy at risk. Purchasing products from a box store may make you feel as if you're saving a few dollars, but most of those dollars go to out-of-state corporations with out of state lawyers, accountants and CEOs, instead of to local service providers. While the minimum wage employees are locals, the majority of the income leaves the community in the form of salaries and tax dollars. An Austin Independent Business Alliance study found that for every $100 spent at a local business, $45 will stay in the community. For every $100 spent at a national chain, just $13 stays in the community. For every $100 spent on the Internet, $0 stays in the community.
What can we as Vermonters do to strengthen our local economies and support the stores and businesses that make our state strong and unique? We can use our consumer purchasing power to buy from locally owned businesses and strengthen Vermont companies. Local First Vermont, now a program of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, is celebrating Independents Week from July 1-7 this year by taking "The 10-Percent Shift Pledge."
The 10-Percent Shift is a group of New England's local business people and citizens who have pledged to shift 10 percent of their existing purchases from non-local businesses to locally owned and independent businesses. If the 5 million households in New England take "The 10-Percent Shift Pledge" we can create thousands of new jobs and keep billions of dollars of economic activity in the region.
In other words, we can transform and revitalize the local economy without taking any taxpayer money or increasing our individual spending.
Locally owned businesses are not engaging in the race to the bottom because it is an unsustainable model: unsustainable for the stores and unsustainable for our communities. The fact is that the global economy has short-changed our communities and it's time to take back control and naturally revitalize them by purchasing from locally owned, independent businesses.
Become a part of a movement that is conserving local tax dollars, creating good-paying local jobs, keeping Vermont a unique destination for visitors and sustaining your community. Visit your local store and get to know the staff that lives, works and contributes to your community. When you need the convenience of Internet shopping, go to the Web site of your local independent. Like the easy-to-get mortgage, the easy-to-get purchase is a short-term solution with long-term consequences for our communities. Join Local First Vermont in making "The 10-Percent Shift Pledge" at 10PercentShift.org.
Claire Benedict is the co-owner of Bear Pond Books & Rivendell Books in Montpelier.
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