10% Shift encourages local shopping as an economic boon

If you could follow a locally spent dollar bill for one weekend, the journey might bring you all around the Seacoast.

For example: A dollar spent at Infinite Imaging in Portsmouth might then be deposited at Optima Bank. A bank employee might then use that same dollar to buy a fresh loaf of bread at 45 Market Street in Somersworth. The bakery worker, in turn, could spend that dollar on organic herbs at White Heron Tea in Rollinsford. An employee from the tea shop might then fuel up his car at Simply Green Biofuels in Dover. A Simply Green attendant then might spend the dollar during a family visit to Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth. One of Strawbery Banke’s historians (having spent the day on her feet) might visit Cardea Chiropractic Well-Being in Greenland. From there, a chiropractor might catch an evening show at Pontine Theatre in Portsmouth. The theater, looking to upgrade its stage, might then shop at Jackson’s True Value Hardware in Kittery, Maine, where an employee might bring that same original dollar bill to Fresh Local Bayside in Newington for some eggs benedict. Follow?

Representatives from each of the aforementioned businesses were at the library on March 18, when Seacoast Local unveiled its 10% Shift initiative. The project aims to help strengthen the local economy by inspiring area residents to shift 10 percent of their individual spending to local, independent businesses.

“We can help build a strong local economy and we can do it now,” said Seacoast Local president Kelly Cioe. 

She cited a recent study conducted by Civic Economics, which found that if the 600,000 residents of Kent County, Michigan, redirected 10 percent of their total spending to local independents, it would generate $140 million in new economic activity in the region and create 1,600 new jobs.

New England, by comparison, has some 14 million residents, “so those results would only be amplified,” Cioe said.

A number of community officials pledged their support for the initiative, including Portsmouth Mayor Tom Ferrini, Kittery town manager Jonathan Carter and Exeter town manager Russell Dean.

Ferrini said having a diverse business population, as opposed to a few large economic drivers, helps strengthen the local community and economy. He encouraged participants in the 10% Shift to “go forth and multiply.”

“From the city side, we’ll certainly do what we can to support it,” Ferrini said.

Lucy Neiman, of the Rye Energy Committee, noted that buying local reduces a community’s carbon footprint by negating the need to transport products long distances. She said the Rye Energy Committee is involved in an array of locally oriented programs, including Rye Eats Local and the N.H. Carbon Challenge.

“All of these actions seem small, but when entire communities take these actions, the results are significant,” Neiman said.

Cioe said making the 10 percent shift requires only “modest behavior changes.” Some of the easiest ways to achieve the shift include refinancing home mortgages; buying local food and shopping at local markets; purchasing independent gasoline; and eliminating credit card interest.

Cioe believes Seacoast residents could alter their purchasing habits with relative ease, thereby strengthening the local economy, creating jobs, improving the environment and inspiring entrepreneurial ventures. When dollars are spent locally, up to three times as much money stays in the area, creating a “local multiplier” in which money keeps circulating through the local economy. 

Ultimately, the initiative is intended to strengthen the community at large.

“We all benefit, not just the business owners here today,” Cioe said.

To take the pledge, visit www.10percentshift.org. The site includes a number of tools to help participants make the shift, including a “local calculator” with 24 different expense categories that can be redirected to local sources. The 10% Shift is supported by The Declaration of Local Independents and led by representatives of 16 communities across six New England states.