11/19/2009 3:30:00 PM Spend It Here: Part 1 Shop locally and benefit the whole community
Spend It Here
We would all like to be able to help out the economy by shopping at small-town businesses, but we often think no shops around here have what we need. Our new series, "Spend It Here," will explain the economic multipliers that make shopping locally so important and will also introduce you to some of the Verde Valley's interesting stores. You may be surprised.
Casey Rooney will tell you about his weekend at Walkin' on Main with his wife - how they enjoyed the wine tasting, had dinner and bought a pair of retro shoes in Old Town Cottonwood.
"And every last dime of that stayed here in our local economy," said Rooney, the Economic Development director for the City of Cottonwood.
The $10 each for the wine tasting went to local vintners. The money for dinner went to employ wait staff at a local restaurant. The cost of the shoes went to a local antiques store. Rooney uses it as an example of how shopping locally benefits the entire community through both sales tax and employment.
"Keep your money where your home is," Rooney said.
Most communities and chambers of commerce have campaigns to get residents to "Spend it Here," especially during the holiday shopping season but also as an overall habit.
That is important, according to Jodie Filardo, economic planner for the City of Sedona, because all of the cities and towns in the Verde Valley except Clarkdale are sales-tax based. "Needed services are funded by shopping," she said.
And money has a way of circulating.
"It's a known fact that a dollar spent in a community rolls over four to seven times within the businesses and services in a community," said Lana Tolleson, president of the Cottonwood Chamber of Commerce. "When people spend money at a business here, the business spends that money here, too."
Even if a Cottonwood resident shops in another Verde Valley community, Tolleson said, the money still has the potential to come back to Cottonwood as companies do business around the valley.
"We ask residents to check in their hometown first," said Tracie Schimikowsky, executive director of the Camp Verde Chamber of Commerce. "Then go to Cottonwood and then Sedona, and maybe the other side of the mountain. But as much as possible keep it in the state."
"When you shop locally, 45 cents of every dollar stays in Arizona," Rooney said.
"It's a reciprocal relationship," affirms Tom Pitts, president of the Jerome Chamber of Commerce, just one of several hats he wears in regional involvement. "There are some kinds of stores we obviously don't have here in Jerome, but we do have 30-some galleries."
For every Jerome resident that goes grocery shopping in Cottonwood, someone from Cottonwood patronizes a Jerome business.
Pitts, the owner of Belgian Jennie's Bordello Bistro & Pizzeria, said the town's restaurants and bars thrive on local business, calling residents a major cornerstone. "We are delighted to have locals come in, " he said. "You know when you go into a place and they know your name and say, 'Hi,' it becomes more than a business; it's a personal experience."
Pitts, who is also on the Tourism Council, points out that the combined population of the Verde Valley is 70,000, which turns into a lot of buying power. "When you look at the larger pie, we can satisfy almost every need, so you don't have to go outside the region to get what you need."
If you are not sure what you want can be found in a local business, Schimikowsky encourages you to contact your local chamber of commerce and find out. You might be surprised at the specialty shops available in your own town. The Camp Verde Chamber's theme is "Build Community. Buy Local." The Town of Camp Verde keeps a similar phrase circulating: "It's in your hands - build a stronger community - shop locally."
Mike Scannell, town manager/finance director for Camp Verde said municipalities benefit from both taxable and nontaxable transactions. Whether residents buy lunch at a locally owned restaurant or shop for a bottle of shampoo in the health & beauty aisle at CVS, 2 percent sales tax goes to the Town of Camp Verde. That is what helps fund local services. However, if residents buy prescriptions at Walgreens or food items at Bashas', that nontaxable money is still going to employ local people and going into the local economy.
Camp Verde has serious concerns about competition from Cottonwood, the economic hub of the Verde Valley, and Internet shopping. Scannell supports Mayor Bob Burnside's conscious effort to get residents to think about shopping locally because when residents take their money elsewhere, "it makes it much more difficult to expand the workforce here."
Cottonwood itself feels the competition from so-called big-box stores in bigger commercial centers like Prescott, Phoenix and Flagstaff. City Finance Director Rudy Rodriguez said he is as guilty as anyone of spending money elsewhere. A day of shopping usually includes dining out and maybe some entertainment, money that leaves Cottonwood, and that is sales tax that is leaving Cottonwood. The city's sales tax is 3 percent.
"When people are staying in town, they are keeping the sales tax in the community and supporting the local economy," Rodriguez said. "Even on non-taxable local items, they are keeping money in the community, and spending it here is keeping unemployment down."
Cottonwood also has frustrations dealing with Internet competition.
"Internet shopping has become so convenient, and there's usually no tax and sometimes no shipping costs," Rodriguez said. "It's not leaving sales tax in the community. And we can't deal with it directly."
Tolleson said sometimes people buy online because they have not looked hard enough locally.
According to Filardo, local communities can still benefit from Internet sales. "If the company has a retail presence in the state, you will be charged sales tax," she said, giving the example of L.L. Bean, and that sales tax circulates through Arizona.
"So if you see it online and push 'Send,' it doesn't have to be punitive relative to your community," Filardo said. Many Sedona businesses have online sales, and that is increasingly true across the Verde Valley.
But don't get the impression that Sedona needs only tourist dollars and the Web. The city has a strong campaign to keep locals shopping locally. The Loyal Sedona Shopper program at www.shopinsedona.com is a three-way project with the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Sedona to keep residents patronizing local businesses. The businesses can sign up for free, and shoppers can get a card to present every time they shop to qualify for local discounts and specials.
"There are ebbs and flows in tourism, and our residents carry us through," Filardo said.
The Verde Valley Regional Economic Development Council, on which Pitts sits, is trying to break down the barriers that may exist among the towns and cities. While competition exists, all locally owned businesses in the Verde Valley region can be beneficial to one another.
And, like Sedona and Jerome, every community has its one-of-a-kind companies.
"Our businesses are fun and funky, and they've got some cool stuff, too," Rooney said of Cottonwood. "It's not all beige and tan that you'd find in a big chain store. That gives it character. It's fun shopping in this community."
During harsh economic times like these, businesses and governments struggle. Locals shopping locally keeps services and jobs in the Verde Valley, no matter what community you live in. And money spread around the Verde Valley helps everyone.
"We can really be of value to each other," Pitts said.
