Small Business is where its at

Small Business is the lifeblood of our community. People complain that "you can't get ___ this here" (fill in the blank). Go to Altoona. Go to State College. Go wherever it is you think they have "everything",  but know that you are not doing yourself any favors. When your favorite coffee shop closes. Or when your favorite restaurant isn't serving. Or when you wish your town had a ... remember- we all play a part in that! Our local economy depends on us! So, buy somewhere else, but don't complain when your downtown is a ghost town.

Shift Your Shopping- Just do it, you know you want to!

As Main Street Manager, I often hear complaining about the lack of goods or services locally. I think there are two reasons for that. One is that people aren’t aware of what exists locally and two our local vendors don’t carry products because they can’t afford to carry something that 99% of us would rather drive to Wal-Mart for (even if it costs the same). This Christmas season, the Main Street Program is determined to make each and every resident of the Moshannon Valley think about where their shopping dollars are going.

We aren’t unique, there is a national campaign right now focusing on the impact of shopping local. As customers, we are about to collectively spend a large portion of our annual shopping budget between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. On average, that is amount is about $700 per person, annually. But, do you ever think about where that money goes?

The fact is that when you buy something at a chain store or online, 95% or more of that money leaves our community. If you join us in shifting those dollars to locally owned, independent businesses, we’ll all generate 2-3 times as much economic activity in our community than if we had spent our money at a national chain. Across North America, that could mean billions of dollars of economic impact.

Typically, Americans stand in line for Black Friday deals. This year could be different. This year Americans could give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. We can support our friends and neighbors who run local businesses. Everyone -- well almost EVERYONE gets their hair cut. How about gift a certificate from your local hair salon or barber? How about a gym or YMCA membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement. Are you going to stand in line for a flat-screen TV? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, or driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course. Or what about one of our many locally owned and operated restaurants? They all have gift certificates. Remember, this isn't about big National chains -- this is about supporting your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open. How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy? Plan your holiday outings at local, owner operated restaurants and leave your server a nice tip. And, how about going out to see a movie at your hometown theatre?

Honestly, do we REALLY need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of lights, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, leave the mailman, trash guy or babysitter a nice BIG tip. You see, Christmas shouldn’t be about pumping money into a big box, chain store. Christmas should be about caring about our community, encouraging American small businesses to keep plugging away to follow their dreams and offering them the support they need to succeed. When we care about other Americans, we care about our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

So, the Philipsburg Main Street Program, along with communities all over the country, is encouraging you to make a difference! Support local, independent American businesses. Let’s build an annual tradition that strengthens local economies, expands employment, nurtures a sense of community, and provides a more relaxed, fun, and rewarding gift-buying experience.

www.shiftyourshopping.com

Shift Your Shopping!

The holiday shopping season is upon us and I am joining a national movement to Shift My Shopping from chain stores to local, independent businesses. And I want you to join me! 


Here is the skinny! www.shiftyourshopping.org 

Let’s build an annual tradition that strengthens local economies, expands employment, nurtures a sense of community, and provides a more relaxed, fun, and rewarding gift-buying experience.

As customers, we are about to collectively spend a large portion of our annual shopping budget between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. If you join us in shifting those dollars to locally owned, independent businesses, we’ll all generate 2-3 times as much economic activity in our community than if we had spent our money at a national chain. Across North America, that could mean billions of dollars of economic impact.

This campaign, representing more than 38,000 businesses across the U.S. and Canada, encourages residents to take job creation and economic concerns into their own hands by exercising their power to strengthen their own local economies.

This is an effective strategy all year-round, but especially important at the holidays:  The National Retail Federation reports that holiday shoppers plan to spend an average of $704.18 on holiday gifts and seasonal merchandise in 2011. That’s down slightly from last year, but NRF is still forecasting overall holiday retail sales to grow 2.8 percent during the months of November and December, to $465.6 billion.

Keeping that money in your community will have a proven impact.

Numerous studies have found directing that spending to locally owned, independent businesses will create impressive benefits. For example, a 2008 study of Kent County Michigan by Civic Economics projected shifting 10% of the county’s per capita spending from chains to locally-owned independent businesses would create “almost $140 million in new economic activity and 1,600 new jobs for the region.”

In addition, annual surveys over the last four years show that places that “go local” do better. For example, last year, the Institute for Local Self Reliance gathered data on annual revenue changes from nearly 2,800 independent business. That data revealed independent businesses in communities executing long-term “buy local and independent” campaigns averaged a healthy 5.6 percent increase over the previous year. This gain more than doubled the 2.1 percent increase reported by independent businesses in areas lacking such campaigns. All of those campaigns operated with support from the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and/or Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

Shift Your Shopping combines the efforts of AMIBA and BALLE with more than 150 local business alliances comprised of over 38,000 local businesses. Grassroots groups like Asheville Grown Business Alliance in North Carolina and Oakland Grown in California will execute campaigns with their own flair, picking and choosing from campaigns like Buy Local First week, America Unchained!, and Plaid Friday, the colorful alternative to Black Friday.

ShiftYourShopping.org provides access to resources from all of these campaigns, including templates that allow anyone to spread the message easily in their community. Anyone can participate and make a direct impact where they live.

How Local Alliances Help Small Businesses Thrive Year Round

The most successful entrepreneurs often do more than just operate a great business—they are local champions who are connected to other businesses and invested in the future of their hometown.

For nearly 10 years now, such like-minded businesses have been uniting through unique, local, grassroots “Think Local First” programs in towns and cities all across the country. They work together to support all locally owned, independent businesses in a community. There are now more than 150 such non-profit groups, and many studies to that show the benefits of a thriving local economy.

How does it work?

A single merchant has limited ability to shift attitudes or consumer spending, but by building strength in numbers, we can create a culture of support for independent business locally and a strong voice to advocate for the interests of local independents and the communities they serve.

Most alliances often start with Buy Local campaigns. These groups may also facilitate group purchasing, cooperative branding, advance pro-local public policy, and more.

Getting started in your town:

Here are the leading resources available to help independent businesses and organizations come together where you live to engage in these activities.

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) provide training and support to local, collaborative networks of independent businesses across the U.S. and Canada.

• AMIBA provides a wide array of tools, templates and support for independent business owners and advocates to launch effective buy local campaigns, organize group purchasing and marketing and advance pro-local policy initiatives. For businesses, their “buy local in a box” is an easy first step.
• BALLE supports local networks that promote sustainable agriculture, fair trade, local business ownership, green building, renewable energy, community capital, zero-waste manufacturing and other program areas that form the foundation of “local living economies.”

Indie Bound is a pro-local, pro-independent marketing campaign of the American Booksellers Association, an independent trade association that welcomes and provides support to all types of businesses who want to participate in their Indie Bound campaign.

The New Rules Project, a program of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, is the go-to source for economic impact studies, pro-local policy examples and other research that documents the power of local ownership, provides you with a case for growing it in your community, and how to advance it with better public policy. Their Community Banking Initiative provides unique resources.

Remember, you don’t necessarily need to lead a local alliance, you just need to get things started. We’re here to help.