Posted: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 4:45 am | Updated: 4:42 pm, Wed May 11, 2011.
By Joshua Armstrong, for the Tribune
At del Piero, a ham and egg sandwich comes with a side of microeconomics. And fruit.
The cafe at Queen Creek Olive Mill tries to use as many local products as possible in its dishes. Buying local benefits the Olive Mill with trustworthy products, general manager Rob Holmes said — and it keeps the business’ money in the town.
Movements to buy from locally owned businesses can be found from Florida to Alaska, and groups like Local First Arizona tout studies that show dollars spent with those companies can have more than double the impact on the nearby economy as others.
That effect is basically the same no matter whether it is a consumer purchase or a sale between businesses, and now matter how many local firms are involved, Local First Arizona executive director Kimber Lanning said. And the impact is neither amplified nor diminished by Queen Creek’s relatively small population of 26,000.
“Every study has shown that the number holds true no matter how big the community is,” she said.
But Queen Creek is not entirely an economy unto itself. Its cluster of local food producers and artisans is less than 5 miles from a box-store enclave, where high-volume consumer spending helps fuel local jobs.
The Olive Mill buys more than just food from nearby businesses: It also buys glassware, signs and art locally. Holmes estimated about 80 percent of the products in the Olive Mill’s store were made locally or at least in Arizona.
But while promoting local businesses, Queen Creek must also weigh the needs of large chains such as Staples and Wal-Mart, Queen Creek Chamber of Commerce president Marquis Scott said.
The chamber needs to assure home-grown businesses that they won’t be overpowered by large companies, he said, but it must use a deft touch to avoid playing favorites. Scott said that while “mom and pop” shops probably have more direct community impact, national chains contribute in ways such as giving to charity and events.
“We say, ‘If you’re corporate, let’s find a way for you to get involved,’ ” he said.
Even Local First Arizona recognizes the importance of large chains.
“We are not anti-big business; we are local-first,” Lanning said, noting that Wal-Mart has drastically improved its community contributions by purchasing from more than 800 Arizona companies.
But the group still advocates buying from local business as the best way to keep money in the community. It promotes studies such as Civic Economic’s comparison of Tempe’s Wist Office Products and OfficeMax Contract.
The study showed that 33.4 percent of Wist’s revenue stayed in the metropolitan area, while only 11.6 percent remained from OfficeMax revenue.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/money/article_b17a9b32-7b5d-11e0-b4e1-001cc4c002e0.html