Who would you rather pay your money to: a multinational megacorporation, or your neighbor? Your answer to that question shows that you already prefer buying local. But spending your money inside your community isn’t just satisfying for its own sake. There are several economic benefits to choosing locally owned businesses whenever possible!
Buying Local Creates Jobs
Supporting local small businesses helps your neighbors to pay their own way rather than rely on tax-funded social services. Small businesses employ nearly half of American workers, and they are also responsible for creating most new jobs in the United States.
It Helps Enrich Your Community
When you support a local business, almost three-quarters of your money will remain in your community. In contrast, less than half of your money will stay nearby when you patronize a nationally owned chain.
Local Causes Are Supported
Locally owned businesses donate considerably more money to good causes than nationally owned ones. According to a recent study, small businesses donate 250 percent more to non-profits and community causes than larger ones.
Buying Local Preserves Character
It’s an all too common sight – a big-box store moves to the outskirts of a city, and its downtown becomes a ghost town in a matter of years. Boarded up storefronts don’t just look depressing. They indicate the decline of local culture, and are symptomatic of an increasingly bland America.
More Choices Are Created
Walk into a national retailer’s locations in California, Alaska, Maine and Florida and you’ll find identical products on their shelves. But when local businesses select their inventory, their varying criteria guarantee a far wider variety of products.
Buying Locally Conserves the Environment
The average Walmart is located over 100 miles away from the distribution center which supplies it. Walmart’s fleet drivers log roughly 700 million miles every year. If the average semi-truck gets 6.5 miles per gallon of diesel, and one gallon of diesel emits 22.46 pounds of CO2 during combustion, then Walmart’s distribution alone generates over three million tons of CO2 annually.
Local businesses don’t just reduce greenhouse gas emissions by stocking more locally made products. They also provide shopping options nearer to their customers’ homes, which only further reduces the need for fossil fuels.
Tax Revenue Is Increased
According to an analysis by the Government Finance Review, a mixed-use, mid-rise business district generates $287 in property taxes per acre. In contrast, the average big-box store produces a mere $7 in property taxes per acre. And locally owned businesses don’t just generate more tax revenue than large shopping centers. They also demand relatively fewer public services.
Buying Local Fosters Entrepreneurship
A strong local economy is self-perpetuating. When entrepreneurs succeed in a given market, aspiring professionals flock there for work. Once established, they too found small businesses that will in turn attract all-new talent.
The Sherburne State Bank team believes in local businesses – and not solely for their myriad economic benefits. Our independently owned community bank is also a local business, and we are honored to have served Central Minnesota since our foundation in 1920.
If you would like to support our local economy while enjoying the personalized service that only your neighbors are qualified to offer, then we welcome you to come visit one of our locations in Becker, Monticello or Princeton, MN in person or contact us today!
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