Can You Really Impact Your Community By Shopping Local?

Local businesses are the lifeblood of strong communities. These small businesses invest back into your community, building up local programs and infrastructure with every sale. Besides contributing to your community’s character, economic diversity, and local jobs, local businesses benefit your entire community in ways that aren’t always visible. Can you really impact your community by shopping locally? Read on to find out.
Local businesses benefit your entire community.

• More income, jobs, and taxes
• While big-box stores offer a wide variety of products, they don’t benefit your community as much as a local business. On average, a corporate chain store returns $15 of every $100 they make to the local community. In contrast, the average local business returns $45 of every $100 to the community. With a difference this big, every shopping experience counts!
• Building up other local businesses
• A local business is far more likely to use the services of other local businesses. For example, a huge corporation typically uses a large national bank and works with advertisers from large cities. In contrast, local companies do business with local banks and advertise with local firms. This builds up those businesses and keeps the area thriving. In addition, many successful local businesses work hard to build each other up. A local grocery store that sells bread from your local bakery creates a positive relationship that benefits both businesses and brings fresher, better products to your door.
• Better service and accountability
• Local businesses typically commit to staying in your area long-term. As a result, they are more customer service oriented, creating a superior customer experience. Since they’re a part of your community, they’re more accountable to the community’s needs. This has a huge impact on local non-profits, who receive up to 3.5 times the amount of revenue from local businesses as they would from non-local companies.
• The multiplier effect
• One research study showed a huge effect when the community conducted most of their business nearby. You might expect that increasing the percentage of local sales from 50-80% would increase the local economy by 30%. However, the actual effect is much greater. When this study increased local sales from 50-80%, it more than doubled the effect on the local economy!

  

How can I help my community?If you have business to give, give it to businesses that invest in your own community. Talk to workers, look at websites, and learn more about what each business does to help your community. Willy’s Trucking is just one great example of a local business that operates in many towns across Western Canada. We proudly support non-profits, schools, and other local businesses in the communities where we own depots. When you ship with us, you invest in your own community. Here are just a few ways your dollars help the local economy and other non-profit organizations in our area.

• Fighting hunger in your area
• We make a monthly donation to Hope Mission, an organization that has been fighting hunger in our area for more than 80 years. Every day, this amazing organization provides over 1000 meals, a shelter for more than 500 people, and even addiction treatment for those in need. We’re proud to support this local organization that continually works to improve our community.
• Disaster relief
• For the past two summers, Willy’s Trucking donated time and trailers to help victims of wildfires in BC and Alberta. We’re always ready to help with disaster relief by using our resources and partnering with other local groups to support those in need.
• Keeping our environment clean
• The reduced shipping requirements for local businesses makes going local an environmentally friendly option. Willy’s Trucking takes it one step further by adopting a highway in Peace River, Alberta. We commit ourselves to keeping our community clean and safe for everyone to enjoy.
• Helping children and pets
• Willy’s Trucking has also sponsored a milk program at Nampa Elementary School to ensure that every child has free milk at school. In addition, we deliver large quantities of pet food donated by Champion PetFoods to a local animal rescue.

Shopping local benefits your entire community, and it’s even better with companies that dedicate themselves to helping local charities and making our community a better place. At Willy’s, we aren’t just a trucking company. We’re a community-centered organization that uses our trucking service to benefit our town, our region, and the world.