11/29 Editorial: Buy local

Posted

Search for the phrase “buy local” on The Leader’s website and you’ll find 1,177 entries in the past decade.

Former Leader owner Scott Wilson wrote about it in April 2006 in a story about economist and author Michael Shuman, who had come to town to talk about the value of investing locally.

“All of us are over-investing in Fortune 500 companies and under-investing in local businesses. We have to change this,” he quoted Shuman as saying back then.

Shuman, author of the book “Going Local,” pointed to his experience in an East Coast community that was anchored by a paper mill. The community had detailed plans about how it would respond to a mill disaster, such as a fire or an explosion. But it had no plan about dealing with the more likely disaster – mill owners closing the mill.

A decade ago, the Port Townsend Paper Corp. was having financial problems, so Wilson noted that the message hit home with the audience.

And as we go into one of the most important seasons for local businesses – the holiday season – it’s worth reflecting on how far Jefferson County has come in a decade and what that “buy local” mantra really means.

It means, for example, that Port Townsend has Quimper Mercantile instead of a large vacant building.

It means we have an organization called Local 20/20, which sponsors all kinds of community forums and events, from the All-County Picnic to the most recent forum on the “economics of happiness.”

It means we have Local Investing Opportunity Network (LION), a group that matches people with money with ways to invest locally instead of on Wall Street. Local money has gone to help dozens of businesses thrive and expand – from Finnriver Farm & Cidery to Sunrise Coffee to Hope Roofing and more.

Throughout the past decade, there have been hundreds of stories and letters and yes, painfully boring editorials like this one, that talk about what it means to “buy local.”

Of course, we can hear the “but” now: but not everything can be purchased locally. Of course not, there are a lot of things you can’t buy locally. And yes, Port Townsend Paper Corp. appears to be finally on solid ground, but it’s not owned locally.

One can always find a reason not to do something, a reason to say no, a reason to be negative.

This is the season to say yes to being a local, to joining with neighbors on the Art Walk, to mingling with people at restaurants, showing up in the rain to greet Santa Claus and filling as much of your wish lists at local shops as possible.

“Buy local” was a phrase a decade ago. It’s since become a going concern in Jefferson County.

Good job to everyone who pushed for that to happen.

– Allison Arthur