Calling Spokane businesses

To get through the recession, businesses are coming together in various buy local campaigns. However, one network in Bellingham, Sustainable Connections , is taking a community minded economy to another level by focusing on green building, renewable energy and local agriculture.

Sustainable Connections has a membership of 600 local, independently owned businesses. They make sure members have the autonomy to “make any transformational change in their business that they can imagine” for a healthy environment. Their core values are to facilitate sustainable economic development by providing:

Education: Facilitating technical assistance for businesses and government that builds our community’s capacity to participate in the opportunities of a sustainable economy.

Connections: Connecting businesses to each other, and to the marketplace.

Market Development: Engaging in promotion and market development that opens opportunities for sustainable economy businesses.

Considering our own emerging Buy Local movement from Greater Spokane Incorporated , it might be wise for area businesses to model a similar endeavor after this high-profile network.

(Even though Sustainable Connections is primarily based in Whatcom County, we did see Spokane business Potlatch , the Forest Stewardship Council certified company that specializes in lumber, plywood, and wood products, as a member. They passed the test for clean, green, and local.)

Of course, buying local is inherently greener, conserving natural resources. Economically too, the evidence is supportive for these campaigns. Michelle Long, director of Sustainable Connections, said unemployment in Bellingham was 6.1% in December—-the most recent figure—-below state and national rates. She said locally owned firms employ 69% of the community’s workforce which comes out to six percentage points above state and national averages. And independent businesses in communities with buy-local campaigns did better than counterparts in other communities without, according to Floyd McKay at Crosscut .

The Business Week profile said it best: “Many consumers choose to buy local because the intangible benefits are precisely the things they care about.” That being a vibrant downtown areas, stores with local character, and a place where they know your name. “They find value beyond the economic value,” said Village Books’ Chuck Robinson in Bellingham.

He thinks Bellingham was predisposed to success. It’s a mid-sized community with a university, a food co-op, organic farms, and services Spokane has going for it too. (Today marks the breaking of ground for our Main Street Co-op .) Bellingham simply sees the connection between community and local ownership better, and have taken action. Efforts our underway here but there’s still no continuity amongst sustainable businesses.

There was a time you could earn incentives for the City of Spokane’s Business and Development Services’ Sustainable Management of Assets, Resources and Technology (SMART) Recognition Program . But the application process closed on January 2nd, with decals for merchants either denoting participant or certified as a Spokane Sustainable Business.

So why don’t we create our own sustainable business network as part of “Buy Local?”