Small and locally owned businesses are the bridge to a more sustainable and just society. They are the mainstay of our community’s economy, the backbone of our democracy, and the future solution to our most pressing social problems.

Local business people make an enormous and positive contribution to the quality of life in our community. Local business creates good jobs, and they boost the local tax base, which in turn improves our schools, our parks, and the quality of life in our town. Most importantly, local businesses are invested in our community. If you look behind the scenes at any civic activity that contributes to the common well being of the community, you are likely to find a local business person, giving their time, and often our money, to the common good. The service provided by the voluntary efforts of people who care about our community could not be replaced by any amount of government assistance or tax money. Local business people are the unsung heroes of our community. They are the leaders, the ambitious, hard working people who have ideas and act on them.

Aren’t the Big Department Stores and Super Stores Always Cheaper?

Chain stores have done a good job of convincing people that they are the least expensive, but often they are not. If you check the prices of building supplies, you will find that our own local Building Supply usually has better prices on lumber and other building materials than the big chain stores. If you buy a shopping cart full of painting supplies from your local hardware, chances are you are paying less than if you bought them at a chain store. And the same can be said about Office Products. If you really price product from A-Z you will be saving money from the local dealer. It has become an article of faith that the big guys are cheaper, but it just isn’t that simple. Part of the reason is that the big chain stores hire researchers to study shoppers to examine which items people price compare, and which items they don’t. The big chain stores will mark down the items people price compare, and mark up other items. It is not wise to assume that the big stores are cheaper. Very often they are not.

Local Economy is the Bridge to a Sustainable Economy

Local business is the bridge to a more sustainable economy. These days, many of the things we buy are produced in large factories, often overseas. In industries dominated by large-scale production facilities, an enormous amount of money is required to get each business going. The creation of a single job often requires the investment of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. We are led to believe that big business is more efficient, but in many cases small businesses are. This is true in agriculture, food processing, textiles and office supplies.

Why are small businesses more efficient? Because they use more labor and less material resources. If you purchase a loaf of bread manufactured by a nationally known company with centralized production facilities, the cost of that product primarily consists of the fossil fuel and materials needed to create and run the machinery to make the bread. If you buy bread from a local bakery, the cost of the loaf of bread is based primarily on how much labor was required to make it. The environmental cost of the latter product is lower.

The same is true of other products. We are familiar with the ongoing mechanization in this country that displaces industrial workers. Welding a car with robots requires significantly more fossil fuel than using human labor. Each increment of mechanization, on average, significantly increases the energy and materials required for production while the need for labor is decreased. In our current economy, the low cost of energy and the relatively higher cost of labor make it economically viable to use more energy to manufacture products. Small and locally owned businesses are, on average, less capital intensive and use natural resources more efficiently. As a result, they help us begin to move toward a more sustainable economy.