Keep It Local Holiday Shopping Guide 3
SHOP LOCAL FOR THE HOLIDAYS I COMMUNITY IMPACT
Why Shopping Local Matters
I t's easy to forget
that shopping
local helps your
community and state
in many, many ways.
From tax dollars to
supporting mom-and-
pop businesses, the
benefits are myriad.
SPEND LOCAL AND
MORE STAYS LOCAL
Numerous studies have ana
lyzed the way money recircu
lates, and most agree that
money spent locally has a
much higher chance of staying
in the community.
A study commissioned by
the British Columbia division
of the Canadian Union of
Public Employees found that
for every $1 million in sales,
independent retail stores gen
erate $450,000 in local eco
nomic activity, compared to
just $170,000 for chains.
Among restaurants, the figures
are $650,000 for independents
and $300,000 for chains.
Across both sectors, this
translates into about 2.6 times
as many local jobs created
when spending is directed to
independent businesses
instead of chains. The study
concludes that a shift of just
10 percent of the market from
chains to independents would
produce 31,000 jobs paying
$940 million in annual wages
to workers.
MORE STABLE JOBS
Economists at Yale
University and the University
of Bristol found that in times
of high unemployment, small
businesses both retain and
create more jobs than large
firms. During the recession of
March 2008 to March 2009, the
employment growth rate of
large employers fell 1.65 per
cent more than the growth
rate of small employers, com
pared with the previous year.
In every other recession and
recovery period in the study’s
sample, large firms took years
to recover relative to small
firms.
IT'S BETTER FOR
THE COMMUNITY
A study by a professor at
Baylor University found strong
positive relationships between
local ownership, firm size and
employee loyalty, which they
refer to as organizational com
mitment.
Using data from a nationally
representative public opinion
survey, the study found that
57.2 percent of small firm
workers scored in the highest
commitment category, com
pared to 40.5 percent of large
firm workers. They found a
similar relationship for owner
ship, with 56 percent of work
ers at locally owned firms hav
ing high commitment scores,
compared with just 38.7 per
cent of workers at non-locally
owned firms.
When the researchers plot
ted the scores on a 16-point
commitment scale, the
authors found that, together,
the two civic measures
accounted for as much as a 1.7
point increase in organization
al commitment, effects.