Don’t be lured by big box stores this year. You've seen the posters and you've heard the ads. SHOP LOCAL! It’s not just a national movement or a buzzword. It is we maintain our identity. By shopping local, you are helping to protect the local character that defines Ravenna. You show me 10 towns that have identical businesses; I’ll show you ten identical communities. Our businesses set us apart. Here are a few more reasons to shop local:

• Money spent in Ravenna stays in Ravenna. For every $100 you spend at a Ravenna business, an average of $68 returns to our community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. If you spend it at a big box store, which fortunately we do not have, only $43 stays here. Spend those dollars online and NOTHING comes home.
  
• Local and regional businesses will recycle a larger portion of their revenue back into Ravenna’s economy. They create and feed a vibrant web of economic and social relationships.

• Jobs, jobs, jobs. Locally owned businesses create jobs locally and often provide better wages and benefits than big box stores do.
• A growing middle class is good for everyone. Our innovative competitiveness as a region, state, and nation is driven by entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a key means for individuals and families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.
• If half the employed population spent just $50 in locally-owned, independent businesses, it would result in $42.6 billion in revenue, according to a Feb. 6, 2009 report from the U.S. Labor Department. This reflects the impact small businesses can have on our local, regional, state, and national economy.
• Pay it forward. Supporting local businesses enables them to support local causes such as youth-based groups and activities, local events, and community organizations that do the most good right here at home.

Can you imagine what would happen to Ravenna if we didn't have any locally owned businesses? The quality of public services would suffer, the home vacancy rate would skyrocket, our school would shrivel up, and Ravenna as you know it would be no more. Don’t commit to shopping local just for Christmas. Support your local businesses all year.