Buying local will help us all recover
THE new outbreaks of the COVID virus are threatening the success of early restrictions and may mean the impacts on local businesses and our community could be longer lasting than first hoped.
While many staff are getting used to working from home and adapting to changes in our daily lives, we need to remember there’s a whole range of industries made up of good people who continue to be destroyed by this crisis.
For people less significantly impacted, I encourage you to adopt a buy-local approach that supports our local businesses because they desperately need your help.
More than ever, we need a vibrant and creative local business community because we’ve learnt an overreliance on foreign products and services can lead to a lack of access during challenging times. Having a more localised approach can act as a buffer to global forces and it’s not just an economic issue, it’s also linked to our national security. If we allow our business community to be decimated by this crisis it is a long road to recovery and life is set to become a lot less convenient.
Our community relies on local businesses because they employ people, engage other businesses, and give back to our charities and clubs.
By buying local your money stays here and that has a positive multiplying effect across our whole region. Statistics suggest up to 75 per cent of your money stays in town when you buy local and strong local businesses foster innovation and collaborations that attract new industries and people to our city.
Our local traders can deliver a better shopping experience because their customer service is centred on having a personal connection to their customers. Local farmers can reduce the distance between paddock and plate to deliver exceptional produce, and our tourism operators are best placed to showcase our natural environment.
Buying local can also be good for our environment because it reduces the carbon footprint associated with extended supply chains while reducing wastage and the amount of resources required to bring a product to market.
We also need to urge larger businesses and government to focus on local procurement for upcoming infrastructure projects because they will keep people in jobs and provide opportunities for young people entering the workforce.
The real benefits of buying local are the personal connections. The health and wellbeing of our community is connected to the vibrancy of our business community. It’s important we keep people in business because they’re the ones who will foster a whole new generation of people who will have the confidence to adopt an entrepreneurial style and embrace new ideas.
Ben Flynn is chief executive of Geelong Chamber of Commerce. geelongchamber.com.au