Apr 20, 2014 3 min read

Since I became a mom almost two years ago, going out to eat is now more of a rare occasion rather than an almost everyday occurrence.

My husband, daughter and I recently had the chance to go out to eat on two separate occasions. One meal was at a local chain restaurant, and the other was at a locally owned restaurant. So I took the opportunity to do a little study.

The chain restaurant had a server who was about as friendly to us as Mother Nature was this winter, and he forgot to put my order in, so I ended up just taking my dinner home with me and eating it later. Cost: $53. Then we went to a locally-owned restaurant. Server was extremely friendly, and food was brought out in a very timely manner. Cost: $28.

Now the reason I bring this story up is because, so often, we think that we are going to save money by shopping or eating at big boxes and chains, but that’s not always the case, which is evident by my recent experience. And while big boxes and chains do provide jobs, and we must support them also, we have to remember that the locally owned businesses are truly the backbone of our communities. The more we support them, the more our area will grow and flourish with businesses; full-time, living-wage jobs; and top notch customer service.

Having a strong, small, locally owned business community is crucial for an area to thrive, and survive for that matter. If we (meaning you and me) could just shift a small amount of our monthly spending to a locally owned business, the change can be dramatic. Annual surveys over the last five years by the Institute for Local Self Reliance show that places that “go local” do better. In the 2012 survey, independent businesses in communities with an active “buy indie/buy local” campaign run by a local business/citizen alliance saw revenues grow 7.2 percent in 2011, compared to 2.6 percent for those in areas without an alliance. You can find more information on this at http://shiftyourshopping.org/2013/our-story/#sthash.Q6Nokrco.dpuf.

We have our very own Buy Local program here in Fayette County that is made up of around 100 local businesses. If you’d like to see a list of the businesses that participate in the program, go to buylocalfayette.org or email me at loris@faypenn.org.

There’s restaurants, grocery stores, jewelry stores, specialty shops, service companies, hair salons and more. And they offer a discount when you use your Buy Local Discount Card.

We have the ability to turn “Fayettenam” (a term I despise) back into a Fayette County that we are proud to live in. I mentioned in a previous column that according to the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau, there are 6.5 million day-trippers that come into our area each year, and visitors are spending $1.8 billion annually in the Laurel Highlands. Visitors from outside the area see Fayette County differently than some that live here. It’s up to us to support our locally owned businesses so that more money is reinvested back into our communities.

Lori Scott is the Sustainable Communities Specialist for Fay-Penn Economic Development Council. She can be reached at loris@faypenn.org or 724-437-7913.