Instead of using the word local, let’s substitute the word community. As we all know, a community is a group of people, businesses, organizations and government that support one another in myriad ways.
Many people in our community depend on local institutions for their basic needs, i.e. health care, housing, safety (ambulance service, fire department and police), schools for their children, retirement communities, religious groups, entertainment, newspapers for local information, fuel for heating their homes and even the means of financial support by way of local jobs.
When one purchases locally, what happens to the money used in that transaction?
Let’s use an example of someone purchasing a product locally – not only does the business benefit from the transaction, it helps to provide employment to the businesses’ employees. Part of that sales dollar goes to pay the local insurance agent, pay taxes to support schools, pay the utilities the business needs to operate. They deposit the receipts in the local bank, which then in turn loans to another business to expand or to make a mortgage for someone purchasing a home in the community or a loan to buy a car.
As this simple example shows, a transaction ripples through the community and magnifies the benefit to everyone involved. If each recipient of that exchange spends locally, it goes on to support more local businesses and individuals. This small ripple becomes a wave of opportunity for our community.
Let’s take a look at a person who decides that they wish to shop on the Internet or a company not based locally. What happens to the financial exchange and the impact on the community? They make a purchase to a company residing outside of our community, the goods arrive and the consumer is satisfied. But how did this benefit their neighbors and help strengthen the community they live in?
The money they spent has left the community and no one other than the purchaser has received any benefit. The money is no longer available; it is off somewhere else, leaving the community a poorer place.
The leveraging opportunity that was described earlier has been denied to the rest on the community. Of course there are things that cannot be sourced locally and we all understand that. But not purchasing locally when it is available reduces the financial strength of the community, and that hurts us all.
So when you see “Buy Local,” think about supporting the place that you call home and help the people that you care for in your community. By all of us working together, we all benefit.
Peter Robinson owns Roy’s and Maggie’s Market in Peterborough.