Keep the Upper Valley a great place to live, work, and play and think local first when dining out, banking, hiring professional services, or shopping for anything! Especially in this time of economic crisis, we need to patronize those businesses so they’ll be here for us after this crisis.
Use the The Vital Guide to find businesses that are members of Local First! Local First businesses meet guidelines of local ownership that mean the dollars they earn do more for their community than dollars spent on nonlocal businesses. Try these popular searches – and search the full guide for more categories!
The “Indie Impact Study,” published in September 2020 by a renowned consulting firm, confirmed the importance of spending money in locally owned businesses. The study found that, in the Upper Valley, locally owned retailers and restaurants return a total of 55.5% and 68.4% of their revenues, respectively, to the local economy – compared to major national retail chain stores, which recirculate only an average of 13.6% of all revenue within the local markets that host their stores and national restaurant chains, which return an average of 30.4% of all revenue to the local economy.
An Upper Valley diversified farm shared the following information about its expenses in a farm newsletter and agreed to let us share it here, anonymously:
Year to date, the farm has logged $238,000 in expenses. An amazing $193,000 of that, or 81 percent, has gone to local people or companies (defined as New Hampshire or Vermont). The vast majority of that money stays right here in the Upper Valley, including more than $100,000 in payroll. The biggest non-VT/NH expenses? #1: the IRS for $19,000, #2: various tools totaling $7,500; and #3: Johnny’s Seeds over in Maine for $5,300.
There are various good reasons for eating locally and supporting farms, but the local-dollar multiplier is a great one. So thanks again for supporting the local economy by eating local food.”
Um, what is the “Multiplier Effect”?
Good question! Here’s how the North Carolina State Extension Service explains it:
The “multiplier effect” is the concept that money spent on local food [or other local businesses] is more likely to be re-spent within the local economy. This occurs when farmers and other local businesses buy inputs locally, employ local people, and otherwise work with other local businesses. The economic analyses estimating the multiplier effect are complicated and depend on a variety of contextual factors. Studies estimate multiplier effects for spending on locally produced foods to be between $1.32 and $1.90, meaning that for every dollar spent on local products, between $.32 and $,90 worth of additional local economic activity takes place with farmers.
Let’s Multiply!
Thanks to farmers markets participating in the Upper Valley Farmers Market Collaborative, we know that in a recent pre-pandemic year, estimated gross agricultural vendor sales at seven of our vibrant farmers markets is $768,444. Total sales across our 14 Upper Valley markets likely tops $1.5 million, all money going back in the pockets of our local farms, crafts, and food businesses, and in turn circulating–and multiplying–locally.
A little speculative math: $1.5 million times .32 = $480,000 circulating locally just from farmers markets sales in 14 towns!