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Jamestown Sun | Saturday, July 27, 2024
For the health of our community
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Strengthens the local economy Capitalizes on local expertise and response to customer’s needs Competition and diversity leads to greater choices Creates local job creation and retention Encourages local prosperity Inspires entrepreneurship and creativity
Shopping locally stimulates the economy, Jamestown chamber official says BY KATHY STEINER The Jamestown Sun JAMESTOWN — Shopping locally is important for several reasons, says Emily Bivens, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce. “The one I think we talk about all the time is stimulating our local economy,” she said. “If you invest in a local business, they’re likely to invest those dollars back into the community in some way, shape or form. So whether they’re paying local taxes and the money goes back into our school system, our parks and recreation or into our streets and our health care, all of those areas that the local government handles ...” She said shopping local and creating that tax revenue for the local economy are “huge.” “Shopping local can help reduce our carbon footprint,” she added. “Just having less transportation. Local shops usually do business with other local entities so there isn’t as much being transported or shipped.
“I think when … shopping locally you think of you’re going to buy a product and sometimes we overlook the service part of it, but that is also supporting local businesses.” EMILY BIVENS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JAMESTOWN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Or some things are made right here in Jamestown that we can take advantage of.” Shopping locally creates jobs, she said. “... increasing our employment opportunities makes us more desirable for people to want to move here and live here,” Bivens said. One person moving to the community may
John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun
Supporting businesses by shopping locally helps the greater community, says Emily Bivens, executive director, Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce. bring a family, with family members wanting to work at other jobs, she said. Shopping locally gives people direct contact with business owners and workers, Bivens said. The chamber stresses and recognizes customer service, she said. “Usually when you deal with somebody in person, when you shop local, it’s a pleasant experience and you can ask the questions
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you need to ask about the product or service that you’re being provided,” she said. “A lot of the times you’re dealing with somebody that you may know personally being that we’re a smaller town so that’s one of the benefits of shopping local is you get to deal with real people.” Getting services locally is also shopping local, Bivens said. “I think when …
shopping locally you think of you’re going to buy a product and sometimes we overlook the service part of it, but that is also supporting local businesses,” she said. “So if I … need to go to the doctor or I need to get my oil changed on my car, those aren’t typical things we think of as far as shopping local usually but they support the local economy as well. Especially when you do those
things at a local business.” While some health care networks are large, they are also doing business in local communities, she said. “They’re employing people from our local community, they have to pay taxes, they’re usually supporting local causes or local nonprofits or charities,” Bivens said. The Jamestown Area
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CHAMBER BUCKS SUPPORT JAMESTOWN BUSINESSES AND SHOP LOCAL Visit JamestownChamber.com/list to view a list of participating businesses.
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