Buying local means jobs, tax revenue for Southern Md.

This letter was sent to the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners. A copy was sent to The Calvert Recorder.

On April 22, The Calvert Recorder printed an article regarding the Calvert County Board of County Commissioners’ deliberation on awarding contracts to businesses located in Calvert County. The Calvert County Minority Business Alliance (CCMBA) encourages our Calvert County commissioners to review programs in other counties across Maryland. Montgomery County has a local procurement program that can be examined. Given that models are established, Calvert County does not need to recreate the wheel as it explores buying local.

The Maryland State Government has a 25 percent Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) participation goal in addition to a 10 percent small business goal administered under the Small Business Reserve (SBR) program. Local county projects that receive state funding are also required to adhere to the 25 percent MBE goal, so Calvert County, in essence, has a program in place under the Maryland State MBE program.

School systems are being afforded the opportunity to establish goals for MBE participation greater than or less than the 25 percent if this is agreed to by a committee made up of the school system and the community. Calvert County Public Schools school construction has implemented this Maryland state requirement.

As many are saying, the local community should make every effort to support local businesses and buy local. Buying local boosts the local economy up to eight times and does not only apply to the community buying from local retailers — local and state governments, large businesses and other services, i.e. school systems and hospitals, should buy local as much as possible as well. Why? Potential economic benefits include jobs, revenue and the local multiplication effect of money turning over in the local economy. Please see the following example: A valuable, but hidden economic reality. The Local Multiplier Effect is a very valuable, hidden feature of our economies. The term refers to how many times dollars are recirculated within a local economy before leaving through the purchase of an import. Famed economist John Maynard Keynes first coined the term “Local Multiplier Effect” in his 1936 book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.”

A hypothetical example — Imagine a hypothetical influx of money, say $1 million, entering a local economy. Now imagine these dollars are spent on local goods and services. Imagine that each of the local vendors who earned those dollars then respends that money on more local goods and services. Envision this cycle happening several times before this money is finally spent on imports of goods or services from outside the region. In this case, those $1 million recirculating eight times would act much like $8 million by increasing revenue and income opportunities for local producers.

The mission of CCMBA is to educate, assist and develop its members by promoting the growth and retention of minority business in Calvert County and Southern Maryland; provide training and education opportunities; act as a liaison to local, state and federal policy makers concerning minority business needs including recommending programs and services that benefit this segment of the business community as well as increase Calvert County’s business tax base; and provide opportunities to market and expand one’s business. To learn more about the Calvert County Minority Business Alliance, go to www.calvertcountymba.org.

Dawn L. Tucker, Eric W. Franklin, Huntingtown

The writers are the president and board chair of the Calvert County Minority Business Alliance, respectively.

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