The Beacon Hill Civic Association encourages neighbors and residents to remember to shop local during the upcoming Holiday Season. Here are 10 great reasons why supporting your local businesses allows our special Beacon Hill community to thrive:
- Community Support: Significantly more money stays in a neighborhood when purchases are made at locally owned, rather than nationally owned, businesses. More money stays in the community because locally owned businesses purchase from other local businesses, service providers, and farms.
- New Jobs: Most new jobs are provided by locally owned businesses. Small, local businesses are the largest employer nationally, and in many areas they provide the most new jobs to residents.
- Neighborhood Charm: Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of our distinctive character. For many, the unique character of Beacon Hill is what brought them here, and that charm continues to encourage residents to stay in the neighborhood.
- Investment into the Community: Local business owners invest in community. Local businesses are owned by people who live locally and are more invested in the community’s future.
- Better Environments for Customers: Customer service is more personal. Local businesses are closer to the customer and tend to form personal and lasting bonds with their customer base.
- Improved Variety: Competition and diversity lead to more choices. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based on the needs of their local customers and not on a national sales plan, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
- Going Green: Local business has a lighter environmental impact. Shopping at locally owned businesses is more energy efficient, requiring shorter travel distances. Local businesses also make more local purchases, thus reducing the carbon footprint of goods sold.
- Overall Cost: Public benefits far outweigh public costs. Local businesses require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services than most “big box” stores or national chains.
- Improved Local Economy: Local businesses encourage investment in the community. A growing body of economic research shows that entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.
- Support for Nonprofits: Nonprofit organizations receive significantly greater support from local business owners than they do from non-locally owned businesses.