?It's a New England-wide movement with this mission - by the year 2010 to persuade 10% of the NE population shift 10% of what they spend already to locally and independently owned businesses.
Why? Because it will have a significant and positive impact on the vitality of our local and regional economy. It has the Board of Selectmen's whole-hearted endorsement, too. In fact, all five selectmen and the town manager signed the pledge that night to SHIFT 10% of what they already personally spend to local independents.
Jan Whitted, owner of ARTBEAT Your Creativity Store on Mass. Avenue in Arlington, has her share of regular customers but like most small business owners fighting to keep their heads above water in this struggling economy, she wouldn't mind seeing those numbers go up.
Along with being a small business owner, Whitted is also on the Arlington Chamber of Commerce board of directors, which recently began a committee to help promote a campaign called The 10 Percent Shift. This campaign was created by the New England Local Business Forum (NELBF), a coalition of local business organizations across
"The future of local retail is dependent on people changing their buying habits and making a conscious decision about where they shop," said Whitted. Local businesses tend to hire locally and support the local community. It just makes sense. This is a step in the right direction."
The idea of promoting local shopping is not a new one. Various Local First campaigns have been established all across the country especially on the west coast and here in
By visiting the Web site www.10percentshift.org consumers are encouraged to make an outward commitment by signing the pledge saying they will shift 10 percent of their spending to locally owned businesses within their hometown. There is also a convenient online tool to provide some guidelines on how to go about doing that. The tool can be useful because some families may need to shop at big box stores in order to get cheaper prices by buying in bulk. They may still want to participate in The 10 Percent Shift so they could instead choose to switch their finances to a local bank or eat out once a week at the corner restaurant instead of a chain. In other words, there are several different areas where the 10 percent shift can be made. It doesn't mean you can't ever shop at a big box or chain store.
"The beauty of this whole thing is that nobody is asking anybody to spend more money than what they already spend," said Meagher. "It's shifting the dollars. It's a very positive-oriented campaign."
She said the goal is to get 10 percent of the population to shift 10 percent of what they already spend into their local communities by 2010. When money is spent locally, more of it stays local, explained Meagher. She said there are many studies and statistics to back this up. For example she said, for every $100 spent in local businesses, $68 stays within that town. For every $100 spent non-locally, only $43 stays in the local community. Big businesses and chains must pay a lot out to their corporate offices.
By shopping locally, communities are enhanced, entrepreneurship is encouraged, new jobs are created, and decreasing long commutes saves gas. In general keeping spending dollars close to home strengthens the local economy. According to the 10 Percent Shift Web site, when money is spent at local businesses, up to three times as much money stays local. Also local business owners are more likely to keep their money within the local economy. This creates a circular effect and it's done without any extra expenses or fees.
Several New England communities, such as Cambridge, Somerville, Newburyport, and Concord have already adopted or have plans to adopt the 10 Percent Shift and many kick-offs are taking place this month, including Worcester, which declared March 16 as 10 Percent Shift Day. The
"We're living in a tough economy," said Meagher. "If we lose all of our local businesses we'll have a very barren town. This movement is huge and it's just beginning to build a groundswell. This is something that's going to make a big impact."
Laury Hammel, owner of The Longfellow Health & Recreation Clubs based out of Wayland, is a local businessman who has organized Local Firsts across the country. He is co-founder of The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and Director of Sustainable Business Network (SBN) of
"This ultimately will create a stronger, more vibrant, sustainable economy," said Hammel. "It's a bite-sized chunk that will make a difference."
Mike Buglio is also a board member on the Arlington Chamber of Commerce and he is owner of The Book Rack on
"One of the things I like about the shift is that it keeps people employed locally," said Buglio. "It has a cascading upward effect."
A survey conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a nonprofit research organization, in partnership with several independent business organizations found that independent retailers in cities with active Buy Local campaigns reported stronger sales than those in communities without such campaigns.
Civic Economics (www.civiceconomics.com/localworks), a leading economic research firm specializing in local economics has conducted many studies to demonstrate how a 10 percent shift can make a big difference in local economies. In one study of 600 thousand residents in
For more information, to use the 10 Percent Shift spending tool, and to sign the pledge visit www.localshift.org or www.10percentshift.org.
Other websites that contain information about the benefits of spending money locally include: www.SBNBoston.org and www.livingeconomics.org.
So, are you a 10% shifter? I hope so!
