SAANICH PENINSULA – A harbinger of the approaching holiday shopping season is the proliferation of initiatives encouraging consumers to ‘Buy Local’. The desire to keep our dollars in the community and support local businesses or at least give local businesses preferential treatment is understandable. But while well-intentioned, do these efforts make sense given how our economy functions?
First consider the complexity in determining what “local” actually means. For example, is a business “local” if the owner lives in another province or country? What about a franchise location that is part of an international chain where the franchisee lives in your community, belongs to the Rotary Club and sponsors your child’s hockey team?
The lines we draw to delineate the target geographic area can seem arbitrary. The Greater Victoria (Economic) Development Agency has shown that income is often earned in a different municipality from where it is spent and that citizens are regional consumers of amenities. This information presents a clear case for taking a regional approach to economic development and contra-indicates a strict “buy local” approach.
An important role of your Chamber is to create a sense of community and mutual support between businesses in their area. We offer networking opportunities to develop new contacts and strengthen relationships with existing clients and businesses. We offer several tools for promoting your business and are available to provide counsel on best practices. We encourage “member first” thinking when considering a purchase because our members are invested in providing value to their clients.
Increasing local options for consumers will result in drawing new customers from elsewhere while also securing local patronage. The proposed Sidney Gateway Project is an example of such an opportunity. The development of commercial space will add variety to the marketplace and lessen the probability residents will venture outside the boundaries of the Saanich Peninsula to do their shopping.
– Denny Warner is Executive Director of the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. She can breached at 250-656-3616 or execdir@peninsulachamber.ca.
