Local First Springfield Missions

Mission #1 Consumer Education    Help consumers understand why LOCAL FIRST matters 20% of consumers don't care about the local message. 20% are already committed. The biggest opportunity to influence change is with the 60% in the middle. 45% of every dollar spent with a local independent business stays in the market; 13% of every dollar spent with a chain operation stays local. Every dollar spent local works 3x harder in our community.                               Work together with your neighbors, friends and others in your community. Cross promotion and teamwork will pay big dividends.

Mission #2   Make your B-to-B spending local

    Switch your business spending to be LOCAL FIRST

• Consider where your business currently spends- and modify where you can.
• Switching even $100 a month of your spending in 2-3 categories to a local firm (VS national chain) could have a huge impact on local business.
• Businesses should be willing to do what they ask consumers to do: Think LOCAL FIRST

Mission #3   Influence government and development decisions

    We have to lead the way to a better understanding of these concepts.

• Local First will invest in economic studies and make the effort to educate local officials about the many economic benefits of LOCAL FIRST.
• Local First will be focused on encouraging government to shift incentive programs to encourage local business expansion VS providing incentives to bring in new competition for local businesses.
• Local First will work with developers, community groups and public officials to improve the local economy by expanding jobs, growing revenue, making development programs more efficient and effective.

 

Is your business patronizing other local, independent businesses? Click to find out!!!

 

Top 10 Reasons to Buy Local:

                                                           

#10 Ensure Springfield stands out from the crowd

In an increasingly homogenized world, communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character are more likely to attract entrepreneurs and new investment. Springfield residents place a high value on individuality and consider our homegrown enterprises a source of pride. They are also an attraction to visitors.

#9 Preserve entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship fuels America’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class. Plus, the success of locally owned, independent businesses provides real-life inspiration to our young people, proving that they can stay in Illinois and prosper on their own terms.

#8 Benefit from local owners’ expertise

Local business owners and employees often possess a level of expertise and a passion for the products they sell that is unmatched by employees and managers of national chains. They also tend to have a greater interest in getting to know their customers who are, after all, also their neighbors. Simply put, local owners and employees take a special pride in their trade.

#7 Have more choices

A marketplace of thousands of small businesses helps to ensure more innovation and competition, and lower prices over the long term. Independent businesses, choosing products based on what their local customers need and desire, not a national sales plan, guarantees a more diverse range of product and service choices.

#6 Conserve your tax dollars

Small neighborhood and downtown businesses require less public infrastructure and make more efficient use of city services compared to sprawling big-box stores and shopping centers, which are far more costly in terms of road work and police services, according to studies.

#5 Nurture community

Independent businesses are owned by people who live in this community and are committed to investing in Springfield’s future. Studies have found that locally owned businesses contribute more than twice as much of their revenue to charitable causes as corporate chains do. And advocates of local causes find that local business owners are generally much more accessible than executives of large corporations based in other states.

#4 Help the environment

Local business owners tend to set up shop downtown and in walkable neighborhood business districts, rather than developing on the city’s fringe or in suburban strip malls accessible only by automobile. Having a diverse array of businesses within walking or biking distance reduces the amount of driving Springfield residents must do to shop for goods and services. It also helps to conserve land, limit sprawl and lessen traffic and air pollution.

#3 Foster local job creation

FOSTER LOCAL JOB CREATION
Studies show that locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than national chains.

#2 Embrace what makes Springfield unique

Springfield is a city that is more like a community. Chain stores are growing more aggressive throughout Springfield and threatening to change the unique character of our city. One-of-a-kind, independent businesses are an integral part of what makes Springfield a great place to live.

#1 Keep dollars in Springfield’s economy For every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 stays  in the local economy, creating jobs and expanding the city’s tax base. For every $100 spent at a national chain or franchise store, only $14 remains in the community.