December 1, 2005

EDITORIAL

Support your town this holiday

For several years, the community discourse in Yellow Springs has focused on the need to improve the economy. People and organizations have commissioned studies, set up forums and debated the differences between smart growth and sprawl. The dialogue has proved to be productive and informative, and some efforts are underway to bolster the economic future of Yellow Springs.

This time of year, all villagers can get involved by doing more than talk about the economy — they can do something positive by committing to spend more of their holiday shopping budget in town. This year, local residents should decide to spend more money here and support the community’s many small, independent business owners.

Patronizing local businesses provides vital support for your hometown’s economy, and a healthy economy helps Yellow Springs remain an engaging, interesting town. Every dollar spent in Yellow Springs contributes to the economy and the community: shopping locally helps local merchants run successful businesses and maintain jobs, which, in turn, helps the Village and Miami Township governments and the Yellow Springs school district provide essential services that all Yellow Springers enjoy.

While downtown is becoming more and more geared toward a tourist-based economy, many Yellow Springs businesses still rely on a core group of customers to keep their doors open: people who live or work in Yellow Springs. Indeed, villagers should provide a base of support for local businesses. After all, there’s no guarantee that visitors will return to Yellow Springs to shop, yet local residents can, and should, regularly patronize the businesses here.

If we want goods and services that cater to local people, we need to shop locally. As the saying goes, money talks.…

The need to patronize Yellow Springs businesses is great this time of year. Like many of the nation’s retailers, the village’s downtown shops bring in a significant portion of their annual income during the holiday shopping season. Robust holiday sales can help downtown businesses survive, even turn a profit, and keep the lights on during the slow, cold months that follow the holiday season.

Villagers may have differing opinions about the state of Yellow Springs’ economy, and how it should be improved. But all community members should agree that the future of Yellow Springs is tied to the economy, and a significant portion of the economy is based downtown.

And shopping locally does more than help the economy — it also helps strengthen one’s sense of community. It’s another opportunity to make connections, see old friends and meet new ones.

Shopping at home, here in Yellow Springs, is a direct, concrete way villagers can support their community.

— Robert Mihalek