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Thinking Global, Buying Local
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Business New Haven
2/3/2003
By: BNH
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During the recession of the early 1990s, many thoughtful individuals and organizations - in the business world and beyond - concluded that the best way to exert a positive influence on the economy was to buy local, and buy small.
Sounds logical. It's easier to make a small world better than a large one, certainly. Beyond that, there was a recognition that successful business communities are part of larger communities in general, sharing among other common traits the commonality of physical proximity.
Such thinking was at least a little bit contagious. In 1994 Yale University announced a purchasing initiative that conferred some advantages on local vendors. A year earlier this publication - just one of many, we note - trumpeted local buying as a keystone of sound corporate responsibility.
Much of this well-intentioned dogma - along with plenty of other examples of common sense - went out the window in the superheated economy of the mid- and late-1990s. The buzzwords were “global,” and “connectivity,” and quaint considerations such as geography suddenly mattered little, if at all.
Connecticut's present-day economy requires another look at the positive potential impact of the aggregate purchasing power from all companies - not just the big ones.
Some corporate buyers will assert that maintaining a buy-local policy can be tough when budgets are under stress, rendering lowest prices and simplest procedures the only meaningful imperative.
Our experience has been that the region and the state enjoy a great diversity of competitive suppliers, and while we may not always be able to buy locally, a bias based on enlightened self-interest is in order.
Stronger local companies means more health insurance coverage, which translates to lower health-care costs, a larger tax base, business for your customers.
A stronger and more diverse economic base also generates employment opportunities for spouses and other family members, donations to local non-profits such as the United Way, and a stronger audience for arts and cultural organizations.
We all need to recognize the consequences of working with local suppliers in tougher times, but leadership at large companies and organizations in particular need to pay attention.
It doesn't make sense to fund big-ticket economic development programs on the one hand - and cut small business off at the knees with the other.
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