New Movement Launches to Help Drive More Local Spending, Reviving Main St. Economies

Alignable.com

To help drive more progress in the recovery of all small businesses and their communities across the U.S. and Canada, Alignable.com is launching #MyMoneyStaysLocal today.

#MyMoneyStaysLocal is a grassroots movement encouraging business owners and community members alike to spend more money on purchases close to home. The movement was created to raise awareness of how spending your money locally has a direct impact on how quickly and completely your community recovers.

Local businesses really need support from each other and the members of their communities to survive the devastating effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has already forced thousands nationwide to close for good. The latest estimates from Alignable polls of 485,000 small business owners is that 3% of all SMBs have shuttered so far, and 40% could run out of cash reserves later this month.

The first step everyone should take is to become more aware of where they buy products and services and how their spending directly impacts the ability of their communities to rebuild and eventually prosper again.

Early on in the Coronavirus Outbreak, consumers went into survival mode, altering purchasing behavior and shifting to major online providers who could deliver goods to their doors with little to no personal contact. This purchasing behavior has continued and now with the resurgence of cases in some areas, it has become even more ingrained as a way of life for many.

This behavior has had a disastrous impact on local economies. A vast amount of money left local communities, ending up at major online brands like Amazon and Walmart.

“Local economies desperately need everyone to switch back to shopping locally to help fuel their recovery,” said Alignable’s Co-Founder and CEO Eric Groves. People need to realize local businesses spend 50% or more of what they earn, on average, back in their own communities, causing much-needed cash to circulate throughout their local economies. In comparison, online spending drains this cash from your community and sends it off to the headquarters of these huge corporations.”

As the largest online referral network for small businesses, we strive to keep our money local. Last month, 66% of what our business spent stayed in the Boston area.

Members of every community hold the key to Rebuilding and Recovering from this crisis in their wallets.

Whenever you prepare to buy something, please think about the #MyMoneyStaysLocal movement and try to make that purchase locally, for the sake of your community’s future.

To join the movement, go to MyMoneyStaysLocal.org.

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