Supporting local business adds up to a better quality of life for our families and prosperity for all the residents of our great state.
The debate about what's good for the local economy is one that goes on continually, but seldom is it argued about in terms that people understand. The reality is that shopping locally is good for everyone because local business means more jobs and more money spent on products and services locally than is the case in chain stores.
Smaller independent businesses create about 2 to 3 times more new jobs per dollar of sales than large national chains or franchises. In Iowa as a whole, spending on goods and services at independently owned businesses accounts for almost 1/3 of the spending in Iowa while only accounting for about 20% of all business establishments in the state. That's a lot of jobs! So where are these small businesses located? Almost 60% are located within a mile of our homes. Look around town and you'll see that your local mechanic, florist, dentist, day care center, lawyer, CPA and other professional services are all locally owned enterprises. Most of these businesses are independently owned and operated with the owners and employees directly interacting with the community.
Independent retailers spend an average of 48% of their total receipts on payroll for local employees and a total of $226 billion in state sales taxes alone could be going to Iowa consumers if we didn't have so many big box stores - more money staying in our local economy to fund our schools, infrastructure, arts and charities. And let's not forget about the importance of small business to our identity as a community.
A national survey by researchers at the University of Missouri found that for every million dollars spent at a locally owned business, nearly three times as many jobs are retained compared to a national retailer. Ask any small business owner and they will talk about how important a strong customer base is to their business and how important they are to their customers. Every dollar they spend gets recirculated locally many times compared to the money spent at a large chain store.
In conclusion, there are a number of other reasons why we should support small local businesses. The choice is ours. We can choose to create a thriving economic environment that encourages entrepreneurs to launch new businesses that will employ Iowans through better educational opportunities; we can work together to remove some of the obstacles that make opening a small business more difficult in our communities; we can create better access to capital for those starting up businesses by making it easier for them to access funds through loans, investments or grant opportunities. All this adds up to a better quality of life for our families and prosperity for all the residents of our great state.