Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society
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Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
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GOING LOCAL Is it possible to build strong local communities that are able to protect themselves? Is preserving local communities a more important social goal then creating cheap goods?What is going local? It is how to nurture capital in viable local communities. The information in this brochure was adapted from Michael Shuman’s Going Local.1 Going local is a principal of finance based upon local economics, community control, self-reliance and renewed local flows of regional capital. Two groups of people could benefit from going local ideas: ordinary neighbors to find a new way to strengthen or build healthy and sustainable communities, and elected officials to bring such a future about. Josephine County, Oregon should make Going Local required reading for its employees and elected officials. It is about the relationship between local ownership and community well-being. Ownership matters. It is about consumer choice and government leadership supporting the local community versus multinational corporations with no commitment whatsoever to local economies. 1 Shuman, Michael H. 2000. Going Local. The Free Press. Routledge, NY.Problem Of Capital Mobility Local ownership boosts local loyalty. It means that such difficult-to-quantify factors as community stability, cultural preservation, and civic pride enter business decisions along with the traditional measures of profitability.A commitment to going local will mark a dramatic shift in the economic-development strategy of Josephine County. It’s a strategy that will unify people of many political stripes. Talk with the heads of Chambers of Commerce and environmental leaders, and you will find that both are livid about being misled and sold out by the promises of disloyal corporations.
The real challenge is how to create decent, long-term jobs without compromising the long-term health of the working community and surrounding environment. This challenge can be met only if the where, or place of production is considered. As long as corporations are free to move from place to place, Josephine County’s efforts to target production toward basic needs, or protect its workforce and environment can’t succeed. Place A community can best reinforce its economy when it builds on its internal strengths. Going local does not mean walling off the outside world. It means nurturing locally owned businesses which use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages, and primarily serve local consumers. It means becoming more self-sufficient, and less dependent on imports. Control moves from the boardrooms of distant corporations and back to "economics of place", the community where it belongs.Key to"economics of place" are community corporations — any business anchored to the community through local ownership. Some community corporations could be small for-profits, with stock held by residents of the community. Others might be public enterprises owned by the local government, or non-profits owned by the community as a whole, or new business structures — any model that fits local sustainability. "The only way communities can ensure their economic well-being is to stop chasing multinational firms with no community loyalties, and to start investing in community corporations. Prosperity follows when ownership, production, and consumption become intimately connected with place."1 September 23, 2002 Back to Top |
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© 2012 Hugo Neighborhood Association & Historical Society |
