5 Ways You Give Back to Your Community When You Spend Locally
By Reggie Rossignol, December 11, 2020
At Chesapeake Bank, our motto has always been, “It’s all about community” because we know we’re only as strong as the communities we serve. “The Buck Stays Here” is our initiative to encourage local spending for goods and services because small businesses are the backbone of the towns we know and love.
Did you know that when you support a local business, you’re not just supporting a friend on a business adventure or dream? You’re also impacting your whole community.
Here are five ways you help make a difference by spending locally:
- Small businesses pay local taxes, like you, which helps to keep your community looking good.
- Many small businesses try to buy their goods and services from neighboring businesses, further stimulating the economy.
- Did you know that small businesses make up for 47% of the national workforce, which means that almost half of the jobs in your neighborhood are employed by them?
- It is also often a small business that sponsors or supports your charities, non-profits, and fundraising efforts because your cause impacts them too.
- Supporting small businesses can improve the environment by reducing transportation and shipping for goods and cutting down commutes for local employment.
Right now, your support is more important than ever.
For many businesses, especially in retail, the holiday season can determine whether the company will make it another year. As you know, this year has been a hard one.
Please, use our Buck Stays Here directory to seek out small, locally-owned stores, restaurants, and companies, and help them by giving them your business. Their success drives the success of your community.
Follow our social pages for a round-up of holiday efforts in each of our regions, or check back often to see the updated links below:
Middle Peninsula
Williamsburg
Northern Neck
Richmond
THE BUCK STAYS HERE
TheBuckStaysHere.com, powered by Chesapeake Bank, is a local online resource of more than 400 small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Membership is FREE, so register your business or nonprofit today. Now, more than ever, it’s essential to support local small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy. You can help them survive and thrive by buying gifts, dining, and using local establishments’ services. So, please, put “helping our local economy” on your Christmas list.
Source: *Civic Economics – Andersonville Study of Retail Economics.