2012-02-23 "Buying local puts more into Napa economy" by Erica Amy Martenson
[http://napavalleyregister.com/news/opinion/mailbag/buying-local-puts-more-into-napa-economy/article_fd1ede2c-5dde-11e1-9014-0019bb2963f4.html]
Martenson is a Napa resident and Napa County Green Party member.
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The Napa County Green Party joins in opposition to Starbucks opening at First and Main streets across from the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company, and joins in favor of Napa Local’s proposal for an ordinance regulating formula businesses modeled after the ordinance in Fairfax, Marin County.
One of the Green Party’s 10 key values is community-based economics, which it believes must be the cornerstone of any sustainable economic program. As an alternative to an economy owned by either the government or large corporations, Greens favor a Jeffersonian model with ownership and control spread as widely as possible among people at the local level.
In addition to the positive cultural, social, psychological and environmental benefits of having successful, locally owned businesses, they bring an economic benefit as well. According to research, three times more money stays and recirculates in the local economy when one buys goods and services from a locally owned business rather than a corporate chain.
This is true for a number of reasons. First, local businesses are more likely to purchase their supplies, products and services from other local businesses. Second, the profits go to the owners, who then spend much of their money and pay taxes in their own community. Finally, locally owned businesses tend to give back more to their community in the form of charitable contributions. In sum, local businesses keep money circulating within the community, rather than sending it to distant corporate headquarters.
Some opponents of this type of regulation cite downtown Napa’s empty storefronts as a concern. However, if there are empty storefronts, it is because rents are clearly too high. Perhaps property owners are keeping them high, speculating that at some point the big players, the large corporate chains, will come in; but we, as a community, should not allow that trend to happen unchecked and uncontrolled. The future of downtown Napa should not merely be sold to the highest bidder without consideration of the impact.
As the gap between rich and poor in the United States gets ever wider, at the local level we must implement programs and policies designed to narrow that gap. One way to do that is to keep money in the community where it is made by encouraging not only the creation, but also the success of locally owned businesses. It is the responsibility of the City Council to do just that.