Independent businesses in communities that have “buy local” campaigns saw revenues grow by 7 percent in 2013, triple the growth rate of businesses in areas without such efforts, a new study says.
The revenue growth rate for businesses in areas without “buy local” efforts was 2.3 percent, said the study by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
The study also found that 75 percent of businesses in areas with “buy local” efforts reported increased customer traffic because of those initiatives.
“Independent businesses are making huge strides when it comes to communicating their value and building community support and help,” said Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
KeepItQuerque, Albuquerque’s “buy local” initiative, is in the midst of a crowdfunding effort to raise $8,000 to distribute a directory of locally-owned businesses to more than 100,000 are households.
Locally-owned businesses face challenges, the study said, the greatest of which is competition from large online companies. In addition, it’s difficult for local businesses to get bank financing. The study found that 42 percent of independent business that had applied for bank loans in the past two years were either denied loans or got less money than requested.