People, homes, and communities are our business.

Our clients look to us for advice on making smarter decisions for green living, whether it relates to energy efficiency in a new home, greener designs or materials for a remodel, or referrals to appropriate professionals to help them meet their goals.

One of the strongest, most pervasively positive choices you can make as a consumer is the choice to spend your money with local businesses.  Local businesses contribute to the well-being of their communities in so many ways, by keeping a much higher percentage of the money you spend working in the area.  Here’s a list of six ways that spending your money with local businesses helps to build the community where you live:

1)  Economic “Reuse and Recycling”

A number of studies show that out of each dollar you spend with a locally owned and operated business,  more than half those dollars (and up to 75% in some studies) stay in circulation in the local economy, keeping your community financially healthy.  Franchises, even locally owned, still funnel money to the corporate level of ownership, management, and suppliers;  siphoning money out of the community.  Large national companies retain very small percentages of each of your dollars within your local economy.

2) Empowered Workforce

Locally owned businesses put more of their payroll dollars back into the community and are the largest creators of jobs nationally.  They are more likely to use local suppliers and service people; such as plumbers, architects, attorneys, tech support, or CPA’s, keeping that money circulating locally.  Numerous studies show that spending shifted away from large national firms and toward local businesses results in increased local job creation.

3) Local Flavor

Locally owned businesses are unique, and help to contribute to a sense of place.  Places, where we eat, listen to music, and buy goods or services, are part of what makes up our experience of our communities.  With “big box” or national franchise businesses, you could be anywhere.  Both tourists and locals benefit from being able to choose places that are unique.

4)  Eating Locally is King

Food that is sourced locally, whether from CSA’s (Community Served Agriculture), farmers’ markets or restaurants that buy from them, contribute to environmental health in huge ways.  Foods can be purchased from nearby farmers, not shipped with fossils fuels over long distances (losing nutritional value en route!)  That means spending your food dollars locally benefits your health, your community, and the environment.  That’s a win-win-win!   Bonus: if you grow some of your own, it’s a workout program!

5) Invest in Your Community

Local businesses are owned by people who live in your community, own property in your community, and are invested in the well-being and future of your community.  They are less likely to leave. Statistically, they contribute much more to local charities and causes and are more active in community service organizations.  Your support of those businesses builds a stronger community in so many ways.

6) Keep Your Choices Available

Think about the myriad of unique products, foods, services you can find with local businesses.  Then think about the way huge companies make purchasing decisions; the national sales plan of what moves quickly and appeals to the greatest number of people.  That homogenization limits your choices, and the more we support that with our dollars, the more limited our choices become. Diversity in our spending choices are as important to economic health as biodiversity is in the natural world.

Stanberry REALTORS® is proudly independent, locally owned and operated for 36 years.

Our unrelenting commitment is to provide outstanding real estate services to our clients and we hope to continue bringing you excellence in every aspect of the industry for years to come. We are your Central Texas resource for real estate.