Why Should I Buy Local?

For Community Members:

The most recent Census data gives Bloomington a population of 69,291people.  Each person in our community stands to benefit from our efforts.  Whether you have kids in school, benefit from a more stable tax base, enjoy the quality of life, want to start your own business or work in a local business, strengthening the network of local, independent business in Bloomington affects everyone who lives here. 

For Businesses:

Business owners and their employees gain tremendous value from taking advantage of our local network and making sure to shop locally themselves.  When your business shops locally, you build relationships with fellow business owners, create new allies, and ensure that more of our money stays in the local economy.  This money can then be re-invested into other business friendly initiatives.  The local business community should see themselves as essential economic development engines.  See our Procurement Brochure for more details.  See a great blog post by Local First Arizona on this topic.

For Nonprofits:

Thinking local first means that you think about local businesses first, and those are the businesses that give back to you.  Small, independent businesses give two and a half times more per employee than big box stores, so why buy goods and services from those who don’t support you?  You may find that making the effort to support that local business will bring in even more support.

For Schools:

Every purchase you make in a local, independent business makes a difference for school funding.  Sales taxes support our schools.  It only makes sense that Bloomington starts to make the connection between what we buy locally and where that money goes. 

While sales tax is indeed gathered from all sales (local or nonlocal), local businesses are much more likely to turn around and spend that money locally themselves, recirculating the money through the community over and over again, creating up to 75% more tax revenue for our community and state.  (See our Studies page to learn more.)  After what happened last year to our school funding, you can see why this matters. We are accustomed to asking local businesses for donations when we need things for the schools, but not so accustomed to calling them when we are buying lunch or having fundraisers.  The next time your school has a fundraiser or brings in food for celebrations, consider local businesses first. 

See our list of fundraisers by locally owned businesses.  See our list of businesses that you can contact for local food and beverages.

For Government:

The City Government benefits from LFI’s efforts because a city full of diverse and strong local independent businesses creates a stronger local economy that is more immune to economic downfalls.  They also contribute to a more stable tax base and cost less in terms of infrastructure and public services.  Additionally, in Indiana, we don’t collect taxes on online sales, and we definitely don’t collect local taxes on out-of-state sales.  It is time to start thinking about the impact that has on our local tax base.  The next time you set a budget for materials or call around for catering for meals, please consider local businesses first.