Own your economy

Campaigns to support local economies can be confusing.  From identifying companies that truly are local organizations to figuring out where your spent dollars have the most impact, the idea of shifting spending back to local businesses can appear daunting.

But it really isn’t.  By understanding what a locally owned business is and how they’re vital to our local economy, the rest is quite easy to understand.

We define a local business as one whose ownership lives in the Inland Northwest.  This means the people with decision making power live here, so they can choose to source from other local businesses, support local organizations and causes, and all of their wages are paid out locally.  Because a locally owned business operates entirely locally, more of their operating expenses stay local, their executive wages stay local, and other business expenses support businesses operating in the local economy. 

A hypothetical example of a locally owned business’ expense breakdown.  Money that stays local is in blue, money leaving the local economy is in red. 

When a business isn’t owned locally, overhead costs leave the local economy.  Paying executives living outside the Inland Northwest drains a portion of each sale’s value directly out of the local economy.  Companies outside of the Inland Northwest are less likely to use Inland Northwest companies to build websites, market products and events, and supply products and business supplies.  This means each dollar spent at an organization owned outside the Inland Northwest leaves much less money here.

A hypothetical example of a locally operating, but not locally owned business’ expense breakdown.  Money that stays local is in blue, money leaving the local economy is in red.

So make sure you’re thinking about the value of that dollar, and help our local economy stretch that dollar further.  Spend it at a locally owned business, and you’re supporting your neighbor, your fire department, and your neighborhood schools.  Shop Local, Think Local, Shift Local, Thrive Local.

Want some real economic numbers behind this?  Check out our Shift Page, where we’ve posted some studies done on similar local economies.