New Survey Shows Educational Campaigns of Local Business Coalitions Are Delivering Big Benefits

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) just released their 9th annual survey of more than 3200 independent business owners. The results provides (mostly) great news for independents and again shows sustained "buy local" campaigns and Independent Business Alliances are yielding an enormous return on investment.

Among the major findings:

▪ Independent businesses in communities with an active “buy independent/buy local” campaign run by grassroots groups saw revenues grow by a stellar 7.4% in 2015 -- dwarfing the 4.2% increase for businesses in communities without such an alliance.

▪ 76% of business owners who actively market their participation in their group reported positive impact on their business, while just 17% of those who don't actively promote the effort saw benefit.

▪ Independent businesses reported a 5.3% increase in employment in 2015.

The full report, (15 pp pdf) is well worth reading, or see ILSR's summary.