Although many chambers are avid supporters of shop local movements, and most community members support the benefits of doing so, shop local programs occasionally come under fire.
Proponents of shop local suggest that all economies are local with the Internet and that chains and big box stores still employ local people. The employment situations in some towns would be dire without these national companies. If these arguments arise in your town, or better yet to head them off, here are a few ways to handle them:
Box Stores Do Good
Recognize the efforts that many large companies give to your community in the forms of jobs, tax revenue, and bringing people to the area. You can capitalize on this by creating a chamber currency program and inviting them to use chamber bucks to award hard-working employees. When they get on board with this program, make sure the community knows about their local efforts. When you give them good local PR, they’ll look to increase their partnerships with you in the future.
Local Small Business Keeps Your Economy Growing Too
Make sure everyone understands this is not an either/or shop local or go big. Most likely both types of merchants help sustain the economic prosperity of your area. Small business drives the dreams of entrepreneurialism, while box stores are able to work with local educational facilities to design programs so that tomorrow’s employees have the skills they need.
Equal but Different
If your local program is coming under fire, you might need to educate the community on how it needs both. Assuming you’ve already talked to the benefits of shopping local, make sure your big businesses also get the praise they deserve for their efforts on behalf of the community. What the two offer are vastly different but essential to continued growth plus, remember, the two of you are both working against the Internet-only retailers outside of your community.
How do you handle the divide between the two camps? Has it come up?
