For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 stays in the local economy, creating jobs and expanding the village's tax base. For every $100 spent at a national chain or franchise store, only $14 remains in the community.
Local business owners and employees often possess a level of expertise and a passion for the products they sell that is 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. Simply put, local owners and employees take a special pride in their trade.
Independent businesses are owned by people who live in this community and are committed to investing in it'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.
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. Plus, the success of locally owned, independent businesses provides real-life inspiration to our young people, proving that they can stay local and prosper on their own terms.
