Why Local First?

Top 5 Reasons to Choose Local Business First

By choosing to patronize locally owned establishments, you make a positive impact on our community in many ways. Here are just 5 of them:

1. Environment By buying things made closer to home, you’re cutting down on fossil fuel use, reducing your carbon impact and saving money.
2. Local Economy Local businesses buy more often from other local businesses, so the money you spend is retained in the community in a more concentrated fashion.
3. Local Flavor The experience at a local establishment is completely unique – providing the local flavor of the area
4. Community Care Local entrepreneurs are more connected to our community, because they live here, too. They are more likely than their competitors to get involved in community efforts.
5. Voicing Your Opinion You are voting with your dollar to say, “Hey, I like this place and the neighborhood wouldn’t be the same without it.”

Video: Local Matters

Learn more about the connections between local business and community in this video produced by MHBA:

Video: The Importance of Local Businesses

Here's Co-Founder and Executive Director Mickki Langston, talking about why locally owned businesses are vital to building resilient communities:

Studies & Research on Local First

Numerous studies have been conducted in the past decade comparing the impact of locally owned businesses to non-local businesses. Here's just one:

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

Download the study now (.pdf)

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.

Additional research and studies available through:
Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) is a national organization that supports local business networks in over 65 cities in the US and Canada. http://www.livingeconomies.org
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance(ILSR) proposes a set of new rules that builds community by supporting humanly scaled politics and economics. http://www.newrules.org/

Or find these books at your nearest local book store:
The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition, by Michael H. Shuman
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, by Bill McKibben