I just recently signed 2 the Tee up as a member of the Buy Local Coalition of York. It wasn’t a new decision. I didn’t ponder if it was the best fit for us. It just took a few… uh, let’s say… months to find the time to fill out the paperwork. I chalk that up to being fortunate enough to have a growing, thriving business.
It seemed that I have been approached by every referral group in town. The all had some sort of midweek meetings to have breakfast and pass leads. It just wasn’t my cup of tea… no pun intended. See, I was looking, just not finding. Then a few months ago I went to an event Buy Local held at a local business. The tour of the Mickey’s Pizza facility was awesome. It was exactly my perception of how local business promotion should be. It also was a great lead source for my business, but that’s for another blog someday. I had a chance to meet many Buy Local members and some non-member businesses that supported Mickey’s. I was hooked.
I met the Buy Local President Carmine Pantano, owner of Frank’s Marble and Granite, and we decided to meet up and discuss some benefits of Buy Local and the thought process of the board to the direction of the organization. During that follow up meeting , I realized they really listen to their membership and want to know the needs for my business to help our growth. So I signed up.
As I was perusing their website I saw this:
Spend it here, keep it here!
For every $100 spent with a locally owned company, $45 remains in the local economy compared to about $13 per $100 spent with a national company. Local businesses give on average 250% more to non-profit organizations than nationally owned companies.
Small businesses are the largest employer nationally.
We create jobs.
I noticed it said nothing about the size of the business. It simply stated locally owned. That was the inclusivity I was looking for. See, there is plenty of business in York, but the backbone is me and you… the local business owners intertwined in the fabric of the community.
Regards,
Chris Markey, Owner
