How supporting local businesses benefit us.

If you support businesses in your local area:

• and if the business is locally owned, then you are supporting another community member, who, in turn, puts money back into the local economy;
• you’re helping to provide employment opportunities so that people don’t need to move away to find work;
• you’re helping to build local relationships with every personal interaction you have;
• and in a small way you’re helping to address climate change issues by reducing unnecessary travel.

These factors, combined with the advances in technology that enable people to work remotely, make it much easier for people to remain living in smaller communities than was possible in the past. They also bring new vitality to an area.

Some small communities in Aotearoa New Zealand are experiencing a turn around from their expected demise and are seeing a resurgence of business and population stability and growth. If you live in a such a small community you will probably know that for many businesses, profit margins are tight. Everything that is done to support them, indirectly helps grow the community and ultimately people’s ability to remain in the area over the lifetime.