We are Local Return. We chose that name deliberately. We work to achieve the highest local returns — the greatest benefits and the least harms for our community.
Returns are, broadly, what you get back. When it comes to anything financial, return is almost always captured with a number, the higher the better.
When we keep our money local, it rotates through the local economy, and there are more positive effects and fewer negative consequences. For every $100 we spend at a locally-owned business, an average of $68 stays in the local community. Compare that to just $43 for a big box store. When we bank with a local credit union or community bank, 100% of our money stays within this community, compared to less than 1% with the big banks.
And that money that stays local? It isn’t neutral. It’s flowing, generating economic activity. That’s the multiplier effect. When money is in motion within a community, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
But financial profit (or loss) is just one type of return. Other effects are set in motion when we use money to purchase, invest, or give. These returns may not be as easy to calculate. They may reach us indirectly, having an impact more immediately on people or places around us.
Just because most local returns don’t fit neatly in a spreadsheet doesn’t mean they’re not valuable. They are often pooh-poohed as “soft” or “extra” benefits, and we are made to feel naive for prioritizing them. However, these factors go a long way in shaping our day-to-day experiences, the opportunities our loved ones enjoy, and the future security of our communities. Consider these positive local returns:
- Sustainability: Living as much as possible within the means of our region is one thing we can do to can help save our planet. Compare buying a head of lettuce from your local farmer’s market to produce from a chain grocery store. Your farmer harvested the lettuce and drove it to the nearby farmer’s market. The grocery store probably shipped it from across the country, using much more energy and resources.
- Community: Local businesses are more inclined to give back to the local community — think Little League teams, raffle donations, and charitable giving — because they are part of the local community. They donate almost 2.5x more per employee than national chains.
- Jobs: Local businesses = local jobs. Small businesses are the state’s largest employer. They hire our neighbors, family members, and friends.
- Quality of life: Local businesses shape the character of our communities. They make our places unique and interesting. And doesn’t it feel good to do business with someone you know?
So let’s say you’re a coffee fiend. You simply can’t get through the day without a cup (or three), the stronger the better. Option A, you regularly go to the Starbucks location that’s on your route to work. Your local Starbucks, like every other Starbucks, receives its ingredients and supplies through the company’s national supply chain. The branding, materials, professional services — they all come from corporate; we can safely assume they’re not local, so they don’t pay taxes to your town or hire local people. Plus, you’ve heard something about Starbucks using its money and influence to prevent workers from being able to unionize, and that doesn’t feel great because your cousin getting a decent job with a union made a big difference for her family…
In Option B, there are a few local coffee shops you visit each week. Each shop buys their coffee from local roasters and their milk from local dairy farms. They hire local graphic designers, local accountants, local printers, local bakers — all businesses you know, which hire and procure locally themselves. They deposit the day’s receipts at local banks. One of the shops sponsors the community theater, because several of their employees volunteer there. You like visiting one cafe in particular, because every month there’s a new exhibition of local artists. Another invites an emerging bakery to pop up in their space once a week, which means yummy surprise treats for your family.
That’s a very simple example, perhaps, but there is a lot at stake. Humanity will be grappling for generations with the enormous inequality, climate change, racial injustice, and threats to public health that have become so clear today. As responsible economic actors and decent human beings, we have the responsibility to consider the cumulative impacts of our financial decisions.
Choose local and independent options whenever possible, and let those local returns multiply.
