Shopping dollars spent here, stay here

As you plan your holiday shopping this season, at the top of your list put: Shop locally.
Shopping at your local stores means your dollars are doing more than just purchasing a product — they are helping the local economy. Of every dollar spent here, a portion of it helps to pay for street repairs, a policeman when you need one or a fireman when they are needed. It helps to pay for parks and more.

More importantly, a portion of that dollar helps local merchants who hire local people to work for them. The more they earn, the more likely they are to hire more workers. Those dollars flip over time and time again, helping others to find jobs and eventually, helping our local economy.

According to Porterville Chamber of Commerce CEO Donnette Silva Carter, every dollar spent locally does the work of at least $5 in that it is circulated through the local economy five times.

Also, when you shop, remember where you go when you are trying to raise money for a cause or event. You certainly don’t go out of town. You look to your local merchants, and more times than not they come through. Hundreds of thousands of dollars is donated every year by local merchants and they support everything from youth sports teams to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. By shopping locally, you help those merchants to be able to help others.

Remember, when you shop at home it is helping your neighbor, whether your neighbor is a merchant or not. Your neighbor may work in a store, or a member of their family may work at a store. Your neighbor may work for the city that depends on those tax dollars. Your neighbor may need a policeman or a fireman at some time.

Shopping locally has many benefits, but one more we don’t often think about is the good feeling you can get knowing the dollars you are spending here are helping yourself, your neighbors, your community and your city.