Mahoning Valley Green Party Says BUY LOCAL!!!!

[irishbobcat]

You really can shop locally
By JEN MATSICK (jmatsick@reviewonline.com POSTED: November 30, 2008 Save | Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment
Email: "You really can shop locally" 
*To:   <--TO Email REQUIRED!
*From:   <--FROM Email REQUIRED!
   

On my way back to my apartment after an early morning meeting toward the beginning of the month, I took a detour to a stamp and office supply store that I'd been wanting to explore for a while.

The store looked slightly run-down and never seemed to be open despite the sign in the window that declared the opposite. I wasn't even sure which side of the building the parking lot was on.

As I stepped out of my car I had visions of some hideout for criminals disguised as a stamp and office supply store, where when you asked for a pen you received a .38 special instead.

Fortunately for me, I know of no such place that exists in real life, though I'm sure that somewhere out there, there is a place like that. I'm pretty sure I've read about one or seen one in a movie. Maybe it was a cartoon.

Anyway, when I walked in, another customer was at the counter, chatting with the store's owner. The store had just opened and half the lights were still out. Jazz was playing through the store's speakers.

I saw items for writers, sketchers, stamp and cardmaking enthusiasts, and all kinds of other creative wares.

The pens! The paper! The sketching materials! This, to me, is paradise.

I wandered around the small shopping area and picked up two of my favorite felt-tip pends, ones that I have not been able to find anywhere else.

The pens write smoother than a gel pen and seem sturdier somehow, as if a small piece of lint on the tip would not mess up the writing quality.

I left a happy customer, certain that I would never have an experience like that at a mall.

Contemplating the wonderful experience I had at the small stamp and office store, I was reminded that as consumers today, we tend to fragment our shopping experience. For example, do you know where the last item you bought came from? Do you know who made it? Do you know what their story is?

Chances are, the answer to the last two of those three questions is a resounding "no," especially if you bought that item at the mall or a local department store.

However, if you shop at a place where the owner is the cashier, or if you purchase your Christmas gifts this year at a craft show or flea market, you'll get the whole story. You can ask the owner what went into making their wares, or how long it takes them to make one, or even how they got interested in making what they do.

The few minutes you spend conversing with the item's creator can become a story that you can tell the person who receives that gift.

There aren't many places left where you can have this kind of personal, connected experience with the items you buy, but it certainly changes the way that you look at those items.

I know that the pens I bought weren't made by the man who owns the stamp and office supply store, but I do know that in buying them, I helped a local business and discovered a new place to find one of my favorite brands of pens. The experience opened my eyes to a whole different type of shopping experience.

So if the idea of crowds at the mall gets you down, and you can't stand to look at any more neon packaging or sales signs, I encourage you to go to local businesses, to the "mom and pop" stores, and see what you can find. You might be surprised.

And you'll have a great story to tell.

(Jen Matsick is a reporter for The Review, covering the villages of Wellsville and Salineville.)
=========================================================

Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Greens

[jay]

Here are some BUY LOCAL posters from other cities.
Images are from links on the internet.  They may take a few moments to load.

[irishbobcat]

Studies That Support Local First
 

Business Diversity

Local Works! Examining the Impact of Local Business on the West Michigan Economy, September 2008, by Civic Economics

Read the Executive Summary.

Key finding: A modest change in consumer behavior - a mere 10 percent shift in market share to independent businesses from chain stores - would result in 1,600 new jobs, $53 million in wages, and a $137 million economic impact to the area.

"Buy Local" Impact
Survey Finds Support for "Buy Local" Boosted Holiday Spending at Independent Stores, January 23, 2008, by Independent Business Forum

Key finding: Independent retailers in cities with active "Buy Local" campaigns reported much larger increases in holiday sales on average than those in cities without such campaigns.

Retail Diversity
The San Francisco Retail Diversity Study, May 2007, by Civic Economics

Read the Executive Summary, and check out the talking points.

Read a news article and editorial from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Key findings:

A slight shift in San Francisco consumer purchasing behavior - diverting just 10% of purchases from national chain stores to locally owned businesses - would, each year, create 1,300 new jobs and yield nearly $200 million in incremental economic activity.

The reverse is also true - a 10% shift away from local merchants would have a negative impact of equal but opposite magnitude.

"Think Local" Impact in Bellingham
Study Shows 58% of Local Citizens Are "Thinking Local First" More Often, November 2006, by Applied Research Northwest

Bellingham-area residents are not only aware of local BALLE network Sustainable Connections' Local First program, but also are making significant changes in their purchasing behavior because of it. The lead researcher says, "To have nearly 3 in 5 households attributing a behavior change to this program shows an amazing impact."

Key findings:

58% of Bellingham residents reported that as a result of the program they are more deliberate than they were three years ago (before the program began) about choosing local, independently owned businesses first.

92% of business participants would recommend the program to other businesses in their industry.

67% of participating businesses have, as a result of the program, adopted specific new practices that lessen their environmental impact and strengthen community.

Big-Box Studies
Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty, June 2006, by Stephan Goetz and Hema Swaminathan, Social Science Quarterly

The presence of a Wal-Mart store hinders a community's ability to move families out of poverty, according to this study. After controlling for other factors that influence poverty rates, the study found that U.S. counties that had more Wal-Mart stores in 1987 had a higher poverty rate in 1999 than did counties that started the period with fewer or no Wal-Mart stores.

Chicago, Illinois
Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, October 2004, by Civic Economics

Civic Economics, the Andersonville Development Corporation, and the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce collaborated on this study, designed to evaluate the economic role played by the independent businesses of this dynamic district on Chicago's North Side.

Key findings:

Every $100 spent with a local firm leaves $68 in the Chicago economy; $100 spent at a chain store leaves $43 in Chicago.

For every square foot occupied by a local firm, the local economic impact is $179, versus $105 for a chain store.

Corporate Subsidies
Shopping for Subsidies: How Wal-Mart Uses Taxpayer Money to Finance Its Never-Ending Growth, May 2004, by Good Jobs First

Key finding: Wal-Mart has received more than $1 billion in economic development subsidies from state and local governments across the country. Taxpayers have helped finance not only Wal-Mart stores but also the company's huge network of distribution centers, more than 90 percent of which have gotten subsidies. The report also includes policy proposals.

Good Jobs First also offers a guide to investigating development subsidies, a comprehensive guide to researching state and local subsidies, economic development agencies, and companies.

Bay Area Grocery Industry
Supercenters and the Transformation of the Bay Area Grocery Industry: Issues, Trends, and Impacts, January 2004, by the Bay Area Economic Forum

Key findings:

This study examines the potential impact of supercenter development in the 12-county region around San Francisco. It concludes that consumers would see a reduction in the price of groceries, at least initially, but that these savings to the region would be offset by declining wages among supermarket workers. Unionized supermarket workers, according to the study, receive on average $11.68 an hour more in wages and benefits than supercenter employees. Wal-Mart's arrival would likely lead to both job losses and wage concessions at unionized supermarkets.

Although many cities assume superstores will provide tax benefits, the study examined 116 cities in the 12-county area and found that the presence of one or more big-box stores did not in fact correlate with higher per capita sales tax revenue except in very small towns. The study also discusses the impact of supercenters on rural versus urban markets, traffic, tourism, and retail vacancy (excerpted from ILSR).

Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe Independent Business Report, November 2003, by Angelou Economics

Key findings:

Small businesses account for 90 percent of all businesses in Santa Fe and employ 30 percent of all private sector workers.

Dollars spent at independent businesses deliver twice the economic impact of those spent at national chains.However, national chains in Santa Fe are growing faster than independents - 2.5 times faster - and bring new competition and pressure to the small business community.

Los Angeles, California
Research for Big Box Retail/Superstore Ordinance, October 2003; prepared for the Los Angeles City Council by Rodino Associates

Key findings:

Study concludes that big-box stores would harm low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles by reducing competition, creating blight, lowering wages, and forcing new costs onto taxpayers. By pricing groceries as "loss leaders" and using higher margin non-grocery items to make up the difference, supercenters often force existing supermarkets out of business. Because grocery stores anchor many neighborhood business districts and shopping centers, their closure would harm other retailers and lead to vacancies in areas that are only now beginning to recover from years of economic decline.

The report also finds that supercenters would hurt job opportunities by replacing union-wage supermarket jobs with a smaller number of lower-paying jobs. Fewer workers would have health care benefits, further burdening public hospitals and health care programs (excerpted from ILSR).

Independent Pharmacies
Time to Switch Drugstores? October 2003, by Consumer Reports

Based on a yearlong survey of more than 32,000 readers about their drugstore experiences.

Key finding: Independent drugstores outranked all other pharmacies - including drugstore chains, supermarkets, mass merchandisers (e.g., Wal-Mart), and internet companies - in terms of providing personal attention, offering health services such as in-store screenings, filling prescriptions quickly, supplying hard-to-find drugs, and obtaining out-of-stock medications within 24 hours. Prices at independent pharmacies were lower than at chain pharmacies, but higher than at mass merchandisers and internet companies (excerpted from ILSR).

Midcoast Maine
The Economic Impact of Locally Owned Businesses vs. Chains: A Case Study in Mid-Coast Maine - September 2003, by Institute for Local Self-Reliance

This study tracked the revenue and expenditures of eight locally owned businesses in mid-coast Maine, as compared to big-box stores.

Key findings:

Locally owned businesses spent 44.6 percent of their revenue within the surrounding two counties, and another 8.7 percent elsewhere in Maine, largely on wages and benefits paid to local employees, goods and services purchased from other local businesses, profits that accrued to local owners, and taxes paid to local and state government.

Big-box retailers return an estimated 14.1 percent of their revenue to the local economy, mostly as payroll. The rest leaves the state, flowing to out-of-state suppliers and back to corporate headquarters.

NFIB Small Business Policy Guide
Charitable Contributions Comparison, January 2003

Documents small business contributions to the economy and comparisons of charitable contributions from small, medium, and large businesses.

Key finding: Small firms give an average of more than two and a half times the amount per employee than do medium or large firms (small firms give $789 per employee, medium-sized firms $172, and large firms $334).

Austin, Texas
Economic Impact Analysis: Local Merchants vs. Chain Retailers, December 2002, by Civic Economics, Austin IBA

Key finding: For every $100 in consumer spending at a national chain bookstore in Austin, Texas, the local economic impact was $13. The same amount spent at locally based bookstores yielded $45, or more than three times the local economic impact.

Barnstable, Massachusetts
Fiscal Impact Analysis of Residential and Nonresidential Land Use Prototypes, July 2002, by Tischler & Associates

Key findings:

Big-box retail, shopping centers, and fast-food restaurants cost taxpayers in Barnstable, Massachusetts, more than they produce in revenue. The study compares the tax revenue generated by different kinds of residential and commercial development with the actual cost of providing public services for each land use.

Big-box retail generates a net annual deficit of $468 per 1,000 square feet, shopping centers a deficit of $314, and fast-food restaurants a deficit of $5,168 per 1,000 square feet. In contrast, the study found that specialty retail, which includes small-scale businesses, has a positive impact on pubic revenue (i.e., it generates more tax revenue than it costs to service). Specialty retail produces a net annual return of $326 per 1,000 square feet (excerpted from ILSR).

Iowa
The Impact of 'Big-Box' Building Materials Stores on Host Towns and Surrounding Counties in a Midwestern State, 2001, by economics professor Kenneth E. Stone and extension program specialist Georgeanne M. Artz, Iowa State University

This study examines several Iowa communities where big-box building supply stores, such as Menard's and Home Depot, have opened in the last decade.

Key finding: Sales of hardware and building supplies grew in the host communities, but at the expense of sales in smaller towns nearby. Moreover, after a few years many of the host communities experienced a reversal of fortune: sales of hardware and building supplies declined sharply, often dropping below their initial levels, as more big-box stores opened in the surrounding region and saturated the market (excerpted from ILSR).

NEF Community Tools for Measuring the Local Multiplier
By England's New Economics Foundation (NEF).

Plugging the Leaks is a community-led economic development strategy tool that enables a community to identify the economic resources in their local economy and determine ways to use them more effectively.

Local Multiplier 3 is an impact measurement tool that measures how income is spent and re-spent in the local economy. The purpose of tracking and measuring this spending is to identify opportunities to strengthen linkages in the local economy so that efforts can be made to keep money circulating locally.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For additional studies, we recommend the New Rules Project section of the website of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.


Dennis Spisak
Mahoning vAlley Green Party

[jay]

I'm happy to report that more people are getting behind the BUY LOCAL campaign.  See the blog entry listed below.

shoutyoungstown.blogspot.com/2009/01/i-will-shop-youngstown.html

Check the comments too.

[irishbobcat]

List of Consumer Products made in Youngstown

http://www.manta.com/mb_53_B8_GQ1/other_consumer_products_services/youngstown_oh


Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party

[jay]

In support of your efforts, I just purchased seven products from an Ohio based company.

[jay]

I support your group's effort to buy locally made items.

See my list of locally made Christmas gift ideas posted at this location on the Forum.
mahoningvalley.info/forum/index.php?topic=5053.0

[irishbobcat]

Big box stores like Wal-Mart are steamrolling their way into cities and
towns throughout the country, pushing down wages and forcing small,
local businesses to close because they can't compete with these mega-companies'
predatory practices. But there's something we can do! This December,
let's vote with our dollars in favor of locally owned, independent
businesses and against the negative impacts of chain stores and big box
stores on our communities!
Why Buy Local?
• Local businesses produce more income, jobs, and tax receipts for local
communities than big box stores do.
• Local businesses are more likely to utilize local ads, banks and other
services.
• Local businesses donate more money to nonprofits and are more
accountable to their local communities.
• Supporting local businesses preserves the economic diversity of our
communities and the unique character of our neighborhoods.
• Supporting local businesses is good for the environment, because it cuts
down on fuel consumption. Buying locally produced goods reduces the
need to ship goods from thousands of miles away and also cuts down
on the distances shoppers travel.
And don't forget to also buy Fair Trade, organic and green!
Sponsored by Global Exchange, www.globalexchange.org
For more information, see www.buylocalday.org
Build Our Community: Buy Local!