column: Ann Arbor's 'buy local' movement builds connections to national efforts

The mission, according to its Web site, is pursuing sustainability by “aligning commerce with the common good and bringing transparency, accountability and a caring human face to the marketplace.”

It’s a mission that’s playing out here as groups like Think Local First raise awareness of the impact consumer and business-to-business spending can have on a community and of what it means to keep money circulating among locally owned shops and service-providers.

“We want to help create and energize local … economies throughout the country,” Saginaw said, “believing that the solutions to a better economic system is one based on local economies.”

Saginaw will speak about his work with BALLE on Monday at Think Local First’s annual meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Big George’s.

Saginaw’s message to the Think Local First members won’t be like preaching to the choir.

“I’m talking to an audience who already knows the local message,” he said.

Instead, he’ll be giving them a national “buy local” movement perspective during a time when holiday spending is forecast to be lower and the Michigan economy continues to compare poorly to the rest of the country.

The movement benefits local stores and businesses, but also points to a different economic development perspective: One emphasizing the positive impact spending can have when dollars circulate within a smaller radius.

This philosophy extends to what that money can mean for business startups and expansion, too. And how business growth - and all of the benefits it brings - can come from nurturing entrepreneurs and small businesses instead of luring the mega-corporations and hoping for a big deal with a windfall of jobs.

Focusing on that with BALLE “is not about what we are against,” Saginaw said. “It’s about what we’re for.

“We’re for the community producing and supplying as much as they can locally, he said, “So they’re providing jobs locally so that we can have a vibrant community.”

That includes paying attention to the environment and fair labor practices, he said.

“The three bottom lines are profits, people and planet.”

Saginaw, like TLF’s director Ingrid Ault, said the “buy local” effort truly is a movement today.

“I think it’s getting an enormous amount of traction because it’s something good,” Saginaw said. “It’s heliotropic. People are attracted to something bright and positive.”

It also resonates with people, Saginaw said, because it’s easy to embrace the concept of strengthening businesses with roots in the community.

But local merchants still need to earn their sales, he added.

“Local merchants have to be careful and they have to understand that they’re not going to get the patronage of somebody’s hard-earned money just because they’re local,” Saginaw said. “They have to be every bit as good or better (than an alternative).”

Merchants still need to deliver service, price and quality or any combination of what customers seek.

And the rest of us should consider where we spend and look at the local alternatives - to think local first, he said.

“If it meets your needs and your standards,” Saginaw said, “please shop locally.”

Paula Gardner is Business Director of AnnArbor.com. Contact her at (734) 623-2586 or PaulaGardner@AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter.