I was very pleased to see that development of a regional economic strategy has been included in the 2016 Columbia Shuswap Regional District budget.
A component of this strategic plan will be to develop tactics to help stimulate the economies within the Shuswap electoral areas.
One tactic often used in regional economic plans is to implement a “buy-local” campaign in an effort to stimulate local businesses; but is this a worthwhile approach? Is there sufficient economic activity to justify a buy-local campaign?
We all know that when local businesses thrive, the community thrives as well. Local job creation results in better financial security and higher living standards, resulting in increased spending and further economic activity. It’s one of the best weapons against poverty and has numerous social and quality of life benefits.
One key benefit of developing a regional economic plan is that information will be compiled that may help current and future business owners to develop or fine tune their individual business plans.
A key issue facing potential new businesses is defining the size of the local market opportunity within Area C. Some basic information from Stats Canada may help shed some light on this question.
The 2011 census reported there are 3,410 households in CSRD Area C. Other Stats Canada information shows the average household in British Columbia spent $80,776 in 2014; therefore, total annual expenditures of all households in Area C in 2014 was projected to be $275,446,160. This breaks down as follows:
The average spent in B.C. households for food was $8,218 while the total annual expenditure for food in Area C was $28,023,380; Average spent for shelter in all B.C. was $18,497 while total annual expenditures in Area C were $63,074,770.
The average expenditure for furniture and equipment in B.C. was $1,987 while $6,775,690 was spent by households annually in Area C.
Spending on clothing an accessories was an average of $3,101 in all B.C. households while the annual expenditure in Area C was $10,574,410.
These figures are based on averages and projections, so they can provide only a very rough estimation of the market opportunity within Area C.
While these figures may not be totally representative of our area they do suggest there is a very significant economic advantage to keeping our household expenditures local so as to benefit the entire community. So whenever you can, buy local; it just makes good business sense.
– Paul Demenok
