Local First

The Think Local Program has been created to foster increased support for people and businesses creating and maintaining sustainable local economies and thriving communities in the Sierra Nevada. The program is focused what communities are for rather than what they are against.

Our Local First program seeks to create local living economies throughout the Sierra Nevada. Following a model developed by BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) the Local First program works to ensure that economic power resides locally, sustaining healthy community life and environmental quality as well as long-term economic prosperity. Through celebratory events, marketing of local independent business, networking, local buying guides and coupon books, and other educational efforts, we seek to foster support for the business and people that make our communities special and strong.

SBC is piloting Local First campaigns in four communities throughout the Sierra Nevada including Plumas County, Truckee-North Tahoe, Auburn, and Western Nevada County (Grass Valley and Nevada City). The purpose of these campaigns is to support the locally-owned independent businesses that sustain our communities and give our towns unique character. When enterprises are locally rooted, human-scale, and owned by local community members, there is a natural incentive for all concerned to take human and community needs and interests into account. When needs are met locally by locally owned enterprises, people have greater control over their lives, money is recycled in the community, jobs are more secure, economies are more stable, and there are the means and the incentives to protect the environment and to build the relationships of mutual trust and responsibility that are the foundation of community.

Objective: The objectives of the Local First Program lie in re-localizing Sierra economies and providing multiple local, regional, and global benefits. These benefits include:

• More vibrant, unique, healthy, and happy communities
• Resilient, diverse local economies
• Smaller environmental footprint
• Food and energy security
• Good, stable jobs and skill building
• Reduced waste
• New business opportunities
• Proactively modeling sustainability
• Improved competitive advantage of Sierra communities to attract visitors and new enterprise based on quality of life measures

The Local First Program focuses in several areas of the community including retail, arts and music, investing, philanthropy, food, energy, forestry, and waste management.

Top 10 Reasons to Support Locally-Owned, Independent Businesses

1. KEEP OUR COMMUNITY UNIQUE. Where we shop, where we eat, and where we recreate and have fun—all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place.

2. SAVE MONEY. A marketplace of hundreds of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long term.

3. NON-PROFITS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS RECEIVE GREATER SUPPORT. Non-profit organizations and community groups receive three times greater support from smaller locally-owned businesses than they do from large businesses.

4. CREATE NEW AND MORE STABLE JOBS. Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and provide the most new jobs in the Sierra Nevada. Local businesses also create more stable employment.

5. REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT. Save gas by shopping locally. Shopping in town centers reduces sprawl, congestion, habitat loss, and pollution. Locally owned businesses make more local purchases, requiring less transportation of goods.

6. MORE MONEY RE-CIRCULATES IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. A dollar spent in an independent locally-owned store is usually spent 6 to 15 times before it leaves the community. These dollars are used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms, continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.

7. ENCOURAGE LOCAL INVESTMENT. Local businesses are owned by community members who are likely to remain and continue investing in the community’s future

8. SUPPORT LOCAL GOVERNMENT. Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services.

9. GIVE BUSINESSES A REASON TO LOCATE HERE. Economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.

10. HAVE MORE CHOICES AND BUY WHAT YOU WANT. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based on their own interests and the needs of local customers, guarantees a broader range of product choices.

If you are interested in getting involved, finding out what’s happening, or starting a campaign in your area, email regional project managers Nikki Streegan, Krissy Gilbert, or Mary Canada.