Shop locally, Alaska, and invest in your own community

We Alaskans understand that we are in the midst of lower spending by both the oil industry and our state and local governments. We are losing local jobs because of it. But many of us don't realize we are also in the midst of a shrinking local economy caused by the recent invasion of national chains and box stores.

Many people think that shopping locally is a good social idea, but understanding just how important it is to the local economy takes a little more research. There is a solid economic argument as to why everyone should try to shop locally: primarily because local businesses support other local businesses by purchasing goods and services from them. Thus, local businesses are supporting other local jobs. We frequently hear economists speak about job creation because it is so important; what we fail to realize is that we can create thousands of jobs just by spending more money locally.

[Stand up for small business this Saturday]

For example, when our family-owned local store creates an advertisement, we use a local person to create the ad, whether it is radio, TV, internet or print. Those slick inserts in the paper from Best Buy are designed and sometimes printed somewhere else. When I need a lawyer, I hire one locally; REI uses lawyers living and working in Kent, Washington. Our accountants and our bookkeepers are local people too — not so with Costco or McDonald's. Our insurance brokers are local. We buy our office supplies locally. We hire local contractors. We use local suppliers and shipping companies.

Most of the money you spend at a small local store gets spent again right here in Alaska; most of what you spend in a national chain leaves this state the very next day by wire transfer. Many companies don't even use our local banking system.

A study by the New Economics Foundation (an independent think tank), concluded that many local economies are languishing not because too little cash comes in but as a result of what happens to that cash:

"Money is like blood. It needs to keep moving around to keep the economy going, when money is spent elsewhere — at big supermarkets, non-locally owned (stores and restaurants) and other services such as on-line retailers —it flows out, like a wound. By shopping at the corner store instead of the big box, consumers keep their communities from becoming 'ghost towns' or 'clone towns' (where every shopping area has the same fast-food and retail chains)." It's not about how much money you've got but how much you can keep circulating without letting it leak out.

The private research firm Civic Economics has attempted to quantify the difference in local economic return between local independents and chain businesses. Their study, for the city of Austin, Texas, showed that an independent bookseller and music seller returned more than three times as much money to the local economy as the now-bankrupt Borders Books and Music outlet did.

The same study found that shopping locally as opposed to shopping online returns close to 50 times as much money to the local economy.

[Some small retailers in Alaska jump on Black Friday bandwagon, others refrain]

This means many more local jobs. More local jobs means a more diverse and more resilient local economy. A strong local economy pays for more local government and services, which benefits everyone.

We simply need to connect the dots. If you are worried about funding your schools and police, shop local. Local governments are killing their own economies when they provide tax breaks to lure in a big box store. National chains promise jobs but in the long run they don't create jobs — they merely replace existing jobs with lower-paying, part-time ones.

I can't speak to all businesses but I can speak to the sporting goods business in Anchorage. There was a time when box stores could offer lower pricing, but not so much anymore — the overhead for their mega-stores is very high. In addition, most manufacturers now stipulate retail prices that all stores must follow. It's a more level playing field now.

As the Christmas season and Small Business Saturday approach, take a minute and think where you will spend your money. Please choose to support your neighbors, create jobs and take care of your own economy. It's good for you and it's good for your community.

John Staser, with his wife, owns and operates Mountain View Sports in Anchorage.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email to commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.