A thriving local business community is the best way to help grow an area, and there's a trickle-down effect when you chose to support a locally owned business.
Thriving local businesses help grow a local economy by creating jobs and increasing customer choice. It's also a good way to help keep taxes down for residents in an area says Parkland Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Stephen Chychota.
"There are taxes that get paid to municipalities, they're able to update infrastructure, keep a healthy community, and keep taxes down for the broader community and the residents. It just spreads so vastly. So the more that people can use their hard-earned dollars and support their businesses in their community or in their region, it just benefits the community as a whole."
Coming out of a pandemic, many businesses have struggled, and supporting those businesses has far-reaching effects says Chychota.
"It makes the health of those businesses be sustained, and then more businesses are able to pop up, and current businesses are able to expand. Whether that's more retail space, a different location builds, hiring more staff, whatever the case may be. It just makes so much sense to make sure the health and well-being of our businesses in the area are being maintained."
Chychota says that local businesses having a good relationship with each other is also important.
"It starts of obviously with that business itself, but those businesses can then, in turn, employ people, they can buy other goods and services from other businesses in the region, and that ripple effect continues, so those other businesses can keep going."
CKDM is encouraging people throughout the Parkland to "Put Your Money Where Your House is" and support businesses that are locally owned.
