Daily Loaf

With a helping handout from taxpayers, multinational bankers like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have given themselves record bonuses – billions of dollars – in 2009. What? You didn’t get your record, subsidized bonus in 2009?

Despite those giddy Wall Street windfalls and federal stimulus package, the Florida employed rate topped 10.6% in June – 970,000 Floridians “officially” jobless. How many of your family, friends, and neighbors have yet to be lifted out of the economic black hole that seems to be consuming more and more of us?

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg region, we need our own stimulus package – for us.

We need a stimulus package that is more sustainable than temporary federal spending, more socially responsible than bail outs for the affluent, and greener than the thoughtless consumerism that fueled our economy at the expense of the earth in the past.

Here’s a real stimulus package that will work for us: we all commit to “Buying Local First.”

According to recent economic studies, shifting your buying habits to locally owned businesses creates more circulation of money, more economic activity and more jobs in the local economy.

In fact, only $43 of your $100 spent in a non-locally owned business stays in the local economy, whereas $73 of your $100 spent with locally owned business stays. So it’s less Starbucks and Walmart, and more local cafes and indie retail shops. A great depiction of this is on the site of a local first organization in Western Michigan.

A 2008 study focusing on Grand Rapids and Kent County in Western Michigan showed that a 10% shift of spending from corporate chains to local, independently owned businesses would give a major stimulus to the area’s economy and jobs. The shift would add 1600 jobs, $53-million in payroll, and $137-million of additional local economic output. The best part is that no more total dollars need to be spent to achieve this stimulus.

A 10 % shift should have an even greater stimulus in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. Both Tampa Bay counties are more populous than Kent County – about a million people in Hillsborough and 920,000 Pinellas vs. 600,000 in Kent.

Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA) has lead the way in promoting locally owned businesses in recent years. Indie businesses in St. Petersburg recently organized to create their own alliance, St. Petersburg’s Exciting Community of Independents And Locals (SPECIAL). In upper Pinellas county an indy business alliance is now organizing.

The Florida Chamber has been promoting the notion of “buying local.” This statewide effort — dubbed “Backyard Economics” — encourages Florida to spend money in their own local communities. In fact they have developed a discount card for a deal at many Florida businesses, big or small, corporate or not. Consumers can download a discount card for participating businesses. One drawback of this campaign is that “local” seems to be defined as any business unit operating within a local area, including big chains.

Through July TIBA and the Chamber are teaming to promoting member businesses with the Passport to Tampa Indies. When you visit a member business with your downloadable passport, you receive a stamp. Those with the most stamps will be eligible for over $500 in prizes. If you want to look for independent businesses in the region or products from local indies, Creative Loafing has identified useful online tools and directories.

So next time you need to buy something or you just feel doing your part to stimulate the economy, think local first!

Posted in Activism, Green Community, Green Jobs, Green Living, Green Policy | Leave a comment