What is Local? Why Buy It?
Buying Local means putting about 45 cents out of every dollar you spend back into your community versus less than 15 percent when the purchase is made from a firm headquartered elsewhere. Buying Local is a powerful economic tool to strengthen your neighborhood.
Determining what is local used to be an easier question to answer. That was in the days before it was possible for the guy next door to convert recycled telephone books into insulating and attractive floor covering and e-Baying it into a fortune from his garage in Lexington Park, Maryland.
There are, however, increasing awareness and opportunities regarding local purchasing power. In St. Mary’s County that includes So. Maryland So Good, Leonardtown Business Association and Lexington Park Business and Community Association.
At both ends of technology finding local production is becoming easier. The Internet has allowed garage-based businesses to operate far beyond their neighborhoods. Tom Hodges of Hodges Automotive is one such example. The automotive sales business has moved heavily into Internet automobile sales browsing. Yet the Hollywood Maryland business is headquartered here, paying local taxes, owned by a generous community supporter and a member of I Buy Local St. Mary’s.
At the other end of the spectrum, efforts to connect fresh food to population sources are succeeding with increased numbers of farmer’s markets.
The old axiom – that the closer to home you spend your money, the sooner it comes back to you – is true. Detailed studies continue to show locally owned businesses generate a greater economic benefit for their community. That is the principle behind I Buy St Mary’s efforts to spread the word about the importance of buying local:
First, explore all opportunities to purchase within St. Mary’s County’s Independent business community.
Second, if it can’t be found at home, check into opportunities in neighboring Southern Maryland communities.
Third, seek a Maryland source if you cannot locate what you need at home.
Why Buy Local?
Mathematical calculations and social measurements unequivocally support findings showing that purchasing local products from locally owned businesses strengthens a community’s tax base and overall economy, and better retains jobs within the community than businesses with out-of-town ownership.
Here, specifically, buying local will not merely help sustain the charm and character of St. Mary’s County, it is the only thing that can sustain it.
By purchasing products locally you are buying from your neighbors and from someone who, like you, has a stake in how our community is maintained.
