Portland, Maine study shows dramatic impact of buying local

I haven’t taken the time to look into the methodology of the study in any great detail, but, according to our friends at BALLE, the folks at the Maine Center for Economic Policy have completed a study showing that dollars spent at locally-owned businesses yield almost twice as much in the way of local economic impact as those spent with national chains in the same geographic region. The following clip comes from the BALLE release.


A new study produced by the Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) has found that, on a dollar-for-dollar basis, the local economic impact of independently owned businesses in Portland is significantly greater than that of national chains. MECEP found that every $100 spent at locally owned businesses contributes an additional $58 to the local economy. By comparison, $100 spent at a representative national chain store in Portland yields just $33 in local economic impact.

“Jobs are the most pressing issue on everyone’s mind. Because locally owned businesses keep their profits in the community and are more likely to purchase goods and services from local sources, consumer spending at these businesses has a multiplier effect that increases local economic activity and creates jobs,” said Garrett Martin, Executive Director of MECEP and co-author of the study.

The study finds that changes in consumer spending choices can add up to sizeable economic benefits for the region. Based on 2007 retail sales figures, shifting just 10% of consumer spending in Cumberland County from national chains to locally owned businesses would result in an additional $127 million in economic activity, supporting 874 new jobs and generating over $35 million in wages.

MECEP relied on financial data provided by 28 independent businesses in Portland and information obtained from corporate filings for a representative national chain (Dollar Tree) to model local economic impact. Previous studies of the economic impacts of local businesses in other locales have produced similar findings.

The study was commissioned by the Portland Independent Business & Community Alliance (PIBCA), the nonprofit organization behind Portland’s “Buy Local” campaign. “Until now, we have had to rely on studies from other states to make the case that choosing locally owned, independent businesses generates significant benefits for our region’s economy. This study provides compelling data that is specific to Greater Portland,” said Susan Tran, president of PIBCA…

Speaking of “buy local” campaigns, I’m sure you all noticed that Linette and have taken the last few years off from our annual Buy Indie in Ypsi initiative. This year, we had as an excuse the fact that our son was due in early December. I suspect the reason we stopped doing it, however, had more to do with our burning out. It took a lot of work to pull it together and fund it each year, and, at the same time, it seemed to us that the idea of buying local had gone mainstream to the point where we weren’t really needed any more… I mean, American Express spent millions over the past two years on national “buy local” ad campaigns… Granted, they were just asking for people to patronize their locally owned stores for one measly day a year, but I think it still marks a huge shift from where we were in 2007, when the concept was still somewhat foreign. Anyway, we stopped distributing our “Shop Ypsi for the Holidays” materials a couple of years ago, and I’ve been meaning to bring it up for discussion here ever since. So, if you have thoughts on how useful the initiative was, whether it would make sense to revive it next year, or how we might be able to do an even better job of it, please leave a comment.

Posted in Economics, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

New Year’s resolution… “Wake Up and Fight”

I’m not much of one for New Year’s resolutions, but I really like number 33 on this list compiled by Woody Guthrie in 1942… “Wake Up and Fight.” There are a lot of great ideas on the list, but that’s the one that really resonates with me… to the point that I’m almost inclined to say that it’s tattoo-worthy.

If you know of a better resolution, I’d love to hear it.

[This scan comes courtesy of Boing Boing.]

Posted in Mark's Life, Observations, Other, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Giving girls the gift of science… whether they like it or not

Today’s post, courtesy of Facebook, because I have time for little else, is brought to you by the Lego corporation.

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I think Clementine is starting to understand how Mad Libs are done

Here’s wishing you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year. May all of your occupations be joyous, and none of your trees rain butts on your boogers.

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Blogbaby episode five: Lisa Bashert on the Public Library as Commons

[While I’m busy scrubbing poop from diapers and other articles of clothing, several friends have been kind enough to provide content for this site, through a program we’re calling Blogbaby. Today’s contribution comes from my friend, local sustainability advocate Lisa Bashert.]

I was in the library today. In fact, I was in the library three times today. Generally, I go to the library a lot — rarely does a week go by when I don’t visit. Today, I stopped in to pick up a MelCat book. (If our library doesn’t have the book I want, there’s a program called Inter-Library Loan — the online version is MelCat — and that means I can borrow materials from, say, the Benzonia Library, or the Marquette Library.) I walked to the cafe next door and had lunch.

Then I realized that I had forgotten to pick up the next selection for the upcoming “Books & Brews” book club that our downtown library hosts at the Corner Brewery. Before biking home, I stopped in again and picked up The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers. While there, Jerome (I know all of my librarians by name) informed me that my library card is about to expire.

I was aghast. I didn’t have my ID with me, so I’ll have to stop in again next week to renew my card.

Later still, I realized that I hadn’t dropped off the quarter page handbills I’d made to publicize the Sustainability Film Series, which will move to the downtown Ypsilanti District Library on the second Friday of every month beginning in January. I circled back around and dropped them off.

While I was visiting the library numerous times today, I took a good look around and choked up a little. You see, I love my walkable, sustainable, public, downtown, personal, activist, beautiful library. I saw moms with small herds of kids. I saw every computer occupied. I saw super cheap used books for sale near the checkout counter. I saw the beautiful historic stenciling that’s been restored encircling the lobby ceiling. I saw familiar friendly faces at the counter that have answered so many questions for me. I saw people from every kind of income bracket and ethnic group. I saw “the commons” in action.

Our library is a facet of the public commons that Mark mentioned awhile back in relation to an Occupy Ypsi gathering that took place on December 10. Mark linked the Wikipedia article on the concept of the public commons (an article that does not even mention the public library), defined as “resources owned in common or shared between and among community populations.” I was so glad that the commons was a topic discussed at Occupy Ypsilanti.

I was feeling particularly raw and particularly sad because, today, the Monteith Branch (and three other branches) of the Detroit Public Library closed their doors for the last time. (The report that ran on Michigan Radio can be found here.) At the Monteith, like at the YDL, many people use the public library as their only access to a computer for personal work and school, for access to all the information available online. There are martial arts classes at the Monteith; it is a refuge and a safe haven for kids, a beautiful old gothic building from 1926. It has an active Friends of the Library group — even a Junior League chapter that has adopted the building and lovingly cared for its historic infrastructure. Many of the library patrons used terms like “devastating,” “dismal,” and said the Monteith is like the Alamo, the last thing standing in this impoverished east side neighborhood.

Library Commissioner Jonathan Kinloch was quoted as follows, “We cannot operate based upon maybes right now. The city of Detroit, and particularly the library’s finances, are flying off of a cliff. So we have to make sound business decisions.”

But I thought as I listened — the library is NOT a business. It’s a public trust held in common to be protected for future generations. The current plan is for the Monteith and the other three branches of the Detroit Public Library to be boarded up. What a slap in the face to the patrons and children who use that library.

One of the ways I’ve described Ypsilanti in the past is to say “it’s got an intact infrastructure.” It is a complete community, not a suburb or exurb, with two vital downtown districts that still include independent businesses like the shoe repair, a hardware store, resale shops, small clothing stores, medical clinics, hair salons, bakeries, and the Food Co-op. To me, the public library is the beating heart of a true community. May we keep it forever safe.

I know many of Mark’s readers will have a much more educated point of view on the importance of the commons. I hope they will share their thoughts.

Speaking of the downtown library, would I be correct in the assumption that the building that it’s housed in is owned by the city, and could, therefore, be viewed by an incoming Emergency Financial Manager as an asset for possible liquidation? And, if so, might it be prudent if we somehow transferred ownership of the building to an independent entity of some sort? Or, has that already been done? I feel as if I should know that, but I don’t… And the last thing that I’d want to see is an appointee of the Governor coming into Ypsi and selling out library out from under us.

Posted in Detroit, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

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