“When you have a commentary like this it can be a form of slavery or the greatest freedom in the world. It can sometimes be challenging and is always both a privilege and a responsibility. You never know how people will react to a subject or what you have to say about it. One thing I will say, some of the most amazing feedback has been around a series of comments and promos about buying locally!

Few today remember the Dirty Thirties and the Great Depresssion. Most of us are familiar with the ups and downs of cyclical recessions. But last fall, with dire warnings of a global economic meltdown and signs that even our region would feel the impact, a dark gloom descended on the country.

They say that advertising is always the first thing to be cut out of budgets, and while I haven’t found that to be true around here, we are in the advertising business, so our “shop local” campaign was a way of supporting those who support us. More than that, however, it’s our business to know how to grow market share. We’ve learned how business can use an economic downturn to transition into a market leader on the upside of the cycle.

The point is that our shop local campaign has resulted in quite a dialogue with business people sending me all kinds of recession-surviving information. Florist, Donna Kaufman, gave me three numbers worth remembering!

Pick 3 businesses you’d miss if they were gone, then return to say hello and pick up a little something that makes you smile, knowing those transactions are what keeps that business around.

If half of the employed population spent just $50 a month with locally owned businesses we could save the economy starting at home.

And, for every $100 spent in a locally owned business, $68 returns to the community through payroll, property taxes and spending with other business. Spend it down in the city or online and, you guessed it, nothing comes home.”

---

Ross Kentner Commentary - Thurs. June 4, 2009 (Bayshore Broadcasting)

---

Reproduced with the permission of Bayshore Broadcasting