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Why Buy Local

Because minor changes can make a major impact.
Collectively, Northeast Ohioans have the ability to make a difference in the region through their purchasing habits by looking to locally owned businesses for their everyday shopping needs and services.
Buying locally helps to improve our community in many ways. Here are a few:

1. KEEP DOLLARS IN NEO'S ECONOMY
   For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 stays in the local economy, creating jobs and expanding the region's tax base. For every $100 spent at a national chain store, only $14 remains in the community. [1]
   
2. EMBRACE WHAT MAKES NEO DIFFERENT
   Northeast Ohio is a region of neighborhoods where we shop, eat and hang out – it’s what make our neighborhoods our home.
   
3. FOSTER LOCAL JOB CREATION
   Studies show that locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than national chains. [2]
   
4. BENEFIT FROM LOCAL OWNERS' EXPERTISE
   Local business owners and employees often possess a high level of expertise and a passion for the products they sell that is often unmatched by employees and managers of national chains. They also tend to have a greater interest in getting to know their customers -- who are, after all, also their neighbors.
   
5. CONSERVE YOUR TAX DOLLARS
   Small neighborhood and downtown businesses require less public infrastructure and make more efficient use of city services compared to sprawling big-box stores and shopping centers, which are far more costly in terms of road maintenance and police services, according to several studies. [3]
   
6. HAVE MORE CHOICES
   A marketplace of thousands of small businesses helps to ensure more innovation, competition, and lower prices over the long term. Independent businesses, choosing products based on what their local customers need and desire, not a national sales plan, guarantees a more diverse range of product and service choices.
   
7. NURTURE COMMUNITY
   Independent businesses are owned by people who live in this community and are committed to investing in Northeast Ohio's future. Studies have found that locally owned businesses contribute more than twice as much of their revenue to charitable causes as corporate chains do. And advocates of local causes find that local business owners are generally much more accessible than executives of huge corporations based in other states. [4]
   
8. PRESERVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
   Entrepreneurship fuels America's economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.
   
9. ENSURE THAT NEO STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD
   In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character are more likely to attract entrepreneurs and new investment.
   
10. PRIDE
    We should consider our homegrown enterprises a source of pride.
    
11. COMMUNITY LIFEBLOOD
    Independent, locally owned businesses are the lifeblood of our community. When we keep our dollars in the region, every purchase contributes toward our schools, our culture and the well-being of our friends, relatives and neighbors.
    
12. INSPIRATION TO OUR YOUTH
    The success of locally owned, independent businesses provides real-life inspiration to our young people, proving that they can stay in the region and prosper on their own terms.
    
13. Remember to buy local whenever possible.
    Every time we spend a dollar at local, independent businesses we not only impact the cultural vitality of our community, but we also help build a stronger local economy.
    

Sources:
[1] Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Friends of Midcoast Maine, "The Economic Impact of Locally Owned Businesses vs. Chains: A Case Study in Midcoast Maine," Sept. 2003.
[2] See studies under the headings "Economic Impact of Local Businesses vs. Chains," "Existing Businesses," and "Retail Employment," on this page of the Hometown Advantage.
[3] See studies under the heading "City Costs" on this page of the Hometown Advantage.
[4] Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Friends of Midcoast Maine, "The Economic Impact of Locally Owned Businesses vs. Chains: A Case Study in Midcoast Maine," Sept. 2003; Patricia Frishkoff, Business Contributions to Community Service, Small Business Administration, 1991.