Tools for Growing Local Businesses

LAUNCHING A LOCAL BUSINESS ALLIANCE AND BUY LOCAL CAMPAIGN

• Buy Local Slide Show
  View examples of how communities are promoting the importance of supporting locally owned businesses.

• Catalyzing Your Own "Buy Local" Movement CD
  Available from the New Rules online store, this CD contains 130 slides synched with audio.
  

• How to Start a Buy Local Campaign
  Buy local campaigns are changing people's shopping habits in cities across the country. This 4-page factsheet offers tips on how to launch one in your community.

• Map of Local Business Alliances
  Click the markers on this map to link to more than 120 Buy Local and Local First initiatives nationwide.

• Buy Local Campaigns Boost Sales at Local Businesses, Survey Finds
  Independent retailers in cities with active "Buy Local" or "Think Local First" campaigns reported stronger sales than those in cities without such campaigns.

• Selected Articles from the Hometown Advantage
  Read about some of the most effective "buy local" and "local first" campaigns in the country. Sign-up for the newsletter.

• Other Organizations:

  • American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA)

  • Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)

  • IndieBound

FINANCING LOCAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 

• Financing Local Grocery Stores: The Pennsylvania Model
  The Fresh Food Financing Initiative has seeded more than 50 independent grocery stores in urban neighborhoods and small-town downtowns.

• How to Launch a Community-Owned Store
  Citizens in a number of towns have formed community corporations, raised capital through local stock issues, and opened their own department stores.

• Selected Articles from the Hometown Advantage
  News on strategies to develop and expand independent businesses. Sign-up for the newsletter.

REVITALIZING DOWNTOWN AND NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS DISTRICTS

• Other Organizations:

  • Community Land Use and Economics
    A consulting firm that helps communities create vibrant, dynamic downtowns and neighborhoods.

  • National Main Street Center
    Effective model and many resources to help revitalize downtowns and neighborhood business districts.

MAKING THE CASE FOR LOCALLY OWNED, INDEPENDENT BUSINESS

• Books & Films
  Our recommended reading and watching list.

• Declaration of Independents
  Lecture delivered by Stacy Mitchell at the 26th Annual E.F. Schumacher Lectures in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

• Key Studies
  Summaries of a variety of studies that have examined the hidden cost of chain stores and the benefits of locally owned businesses. Download as a PDF for copying and distributing.

• Locally Owned vs. Chain: The Local Premium
  This one-page factsheet explains the local multiplier: how dollars spent at locally owned stores circulate in the local area and support numerous local businesses and jobs.

• Selected Articles from the Hometown Advantage
  Read about latest research on the impact of chain retailers and the benefits of local businesses.  Sign-up for the newsletter.

• Why Support Locally Owned Businesses?
  Our top ten reasons. Download as a one-page flyer for distribution.