INC NEWS - Importance of shopping locally (Sept 27 at Nasher)

[John Schelp]

from the Indy...

"The first thing is to remind ourselves that in fact,
global companies aren't as pervasive and all powerful
as we think," says MICHAEL SHUMAN, author of the
recently released The Small-Mart Revolution and 1998's
Going Local. 

Nationwide, nearly six in 10 businesses are local, yet
major corporations--including big box behemoths,
telecom companies and auto manufacturers--receive
billions annually in government subsidies and tax
abatements. 

And while governments have cut these sweetheart deals
since the 1970s, 75 million jobs have kissed the
United States goodbye. 

"It makes no sense," Shuman says. "You're throwing
money at the totally wrong parts of the economy." 

OK, ginormous corporations are bad for local business,
so now what? One solution would send chills down the
spines of bean counters at City Hall. 

"I'm only half snide about this," Shuman explains.
"Close down our economic development departments, the
whole system. It would begin to equalize the playing
field between global and local businesses." 

More realistically, Shuman cites success stories,
including Durham's Self-Help Credit Union, in which
local communities are regaining some control over
their economies: Santa Fe, N.M., has a local bank card
that unites a network of businesses; Bellingham,
Wash., publishes a guide to locally owned stores;
Ithaca, N.Y., has developed its own currency. 

He also provides tips on how to launch these ideas for
more sustainable communities. Provide people with
guides to locally owned stores--and ask them to shop
there--and more importantly, move your money to a
local bank. 

Shuman speaks Wednesday, Sept. 27 at DUKE UNIVERSITY'S
NASHER MUSEUM at 7 p.m. Free.


source: Independent Weekly, 20 Sept 2006