JAMESTOWN — Shopping locally is important for several reasons, says Emily Bivens, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce.
“The one I think we talk about all the time is stimulating our local economy,” she said. “If you invest in a local business, they’re likely to invest those dollars back into the community in some way, shape or form.
So whether they’re paying local taxes and the money goes back into our school system, our parks and recreation or into our streets and our health care, all of those areas that the local government handles ...”
She said shopping local and creating that tax revenue for the local economy are “huge.”
“Shopping local can help reduce our carbon footprint,” she added.
“Just having less transportation. Local shops usually do business with other local entities so there isn’t as much being transported or shipped.
“I think when … shopping locally you think of you’re going to buy a product and sometimes we overlook the service part of it, but that is also supporting local businesses.”
EMILY BIVENS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JAMESTOWN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Or some things are made right here in Jamestown that we can take advantage of.”
Shopping locally creates jobs, she said. “... increasing our employment opportunities makes us more desirable for people to want to move here and live here,” Bivens said.
One person moving to the community may
bring a family, with family members wanting to work at other jobs, she said.
Shopping locally gives people direct contact with business owners and workers, Bivens said. The chamber stresses and recognizes customer service, she said.
“Usually when you deal with somebody in person, when you shop local, it’s a pleasant experience and you can ask the questions
you need to ask about the product or service that you’re being provided,” she said. “A lot of the times you’re dealing with somebody that you may know personally being that we’re a smaller town so that’s one of the benefits of shopping local is you get to deal with real people.”
Getting services locally is also shopping local, Bivens said. “I think when …
shopping locally you think of you’re going to buy a product and sometimes we overlook the service part of it, but that is also supporting local businesses,” she said. “So if I … need to go to the doctor or I need to get my oil changed on my car, those aren’t typical things we think of as far as shopping local usually but they support the local economy as well. Especially when you do those
things at a local business.”
While some health care networks are large, they are also doing business in local communities, she said.
“They’re employing people from our local community, they have to pay taxes, they’re usually supporting local causes or local nonprofits or charities,” Bivens said. The Jamestown Area Chamber on B13
John M. Steiner / Jamestown Sun
Supporting businesses by shopping locally helps the greater community, says Emily Bivens, executive director, Jamestown
Shopping local contributes to Jamestown Civic Center improvements, maintenance
BY MASAKI OVA
The Jamestown Sun
JAMESTOWN
— Shopping local contributes to a city sales tax fund that helps fund Jamestown Civic Center maintenance, infrastructure capital improvements and operations.
That city sales tax fund also funds the construction, operation, maintenance and reclamation of Jamestown area infrastructure capital improvement.
A half-percent Civic Center and infrastructure sales tax began Jan. 1, 2020.
Mayor Dwaine Heinrich said discussion about a half-percent sales tax dedicated to the Civic Center and infrastructure fund began when he became aware of an annual payment of $663,000 to pay for a sanitary sewer force main project. At the time, there wasn’t a dedicated funding mechanism to pay for the project, he said.
He said the Jamestown Civic Center also had a lot of deferred maintenance going on at the time.
“We (Jamestown City Council) enacted this one-half cent sales tax to offset the cost of this sanitary sewer force main … and also to then use the additional money from that to take the burden of any shortfall in the Civic Center operation off of the general fund which would be supported by property tax,” Heinrich said. “Now when we did that, we said it was for infrastructure. We did not specifically limit it only to infrastructure for the Civic Center.”
City Administrator
Sarah Hellekson said the half-percent sales tax for the Civic Center and infrastructure tax collected almost $1.6 million
in 2022 and about $1.8 million in 2023. With that fund, Civic Center Director Pam Fosse said a new basketball court was purchased in 2023 — a requirement to host state basketball tournaments.
“I think it was extremely important for the community just based on the necessary improvements that are needed with infrastructure and then to cover Civic Center operations or expenses so that they don’t continually fall back on taxpayers,” Fosse said, referring to the creation of the halfpercent sales tax. If the new basketball court wasn’t purchased, the Civic Center might not have been chosen as a state tournament host site. The North Dakota Division B Girls Basketball State Tournament in March brought in over $1.4 million of economic impact to the city of Jamestown.
“If we look at the economic impact brought into the community, 29% of that $1.4 million is spent on food or beverage, 22% on retail, 20% on transportation, 15% on lodging and 14% on recreation,” Fosse said. Fosse said making improvements at the Civic Center is and will continue to be vital. The Civic Center was selected to host state basketball tournaments through 2031.
Heinrich said there are a few improvements the Civic Center will need this year and next year.
“I don’t know how many people in Jamestown recognize how fortunate we are in a community like this to have a facility like the Jamestown Civic Center,” he said. “There are very few communities our size that have such a wonderful facility like what we have.”
Stutsman County visitor spending increased by more than 24% in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the latest information from the North Dakota Department of Commerce. The county saw a 24.4% increase in visitor spending in 2023 compared to 2022.
“I think it’s vital that the community as a whole continue to try to improve to attract these events as well,” Fosse said. “I think people often forget that those in attendance may be involved in other organizations or other groups that may want to come
back to Jamestown, not necessarily the Civic Center, but may want to come back to one of the hotels or one of the restaurants. I think it’s important to the community that we are all able to continue to provide those updates and necessary improvements to continue to attract the visitors.”
With any large event coming to Jamestown, Fosse said the state estimates 75% of those visitors spend the night in town.
“Even 25% are driving back and forth which means they are filling up with gas,” she said.
“They are stopping at our gas stations or grabbing a bite to eat before they leave. I think it’s vital that the community provide hospitality to these visitors so they continue to return.”
Heinrich said it’s important for everyone in the community to shop local but it’s also important to get visitors from the region and beyond to come to Jamestown and shop to not only support the Civic Center but other businesses in the community.
“The only way we can maintain businesses in Jamestown (is) if they are willing to have
sufficient business that they can operate and pay their cost and hopefully make a bit of profit,” he said, adding that a good business climate in the community is the top priority. “When that happens everyone benefits, and that does not only include this tax for the Civic Center and infrastructure (but) our economic development tax and the tax for the help to pay off the Two Rivers Activity Center. We also have a half-cent sales tax that is dedicated to helping to pay down the costs of special assessments.” mova@jamestownsun.com | (701) 952-8454
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The student section for the Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier Rebels celebrate a made 3-pointer during the North Dakota Division B Girls Basketball State Tournament on March 1 at the Jamestown Civic Center. Civic Center Director Pam
Fosse said making improvements at the Civic Center is and will continue to be vital. She said the state tournament in March brought
How communities benefit when consumers shop local
Ideas about shopping are never set in stone, and the pandemic illustrated just how quickly consumer trends and opinions can change. Many individuals are now reevaluating how they spend their hardearned money, particularly since inflation has affected just how far a dollar can be stretched. When consumers think about which stores to patronize, locally owned businesses may be the smartest option for a number of reasons — not the least of which is the way such enterprises benefit the communities they call home.
More money kept in the community
Shopping locally means that more money will stay in the community. According to recent research from Civic Economics, local eateries
return nearly 79 percent of revenue to the community, compared to just over 30 percent for chain restaurants. Overall, for every $100 spent at a local business, around $73 remains in the community, verus roughly $43 when shopping at a nonlocally owned business. Get a personal touch
Local business owners typically are inclined to go the extra mile for their customers and are personally invested in the services and products they are selling. As a result, shopping locally tends to be a personalized experience. Furthermore, a local business owner may be more amenable to ordering products for specific clientele. Such personalized service is typically not accessible when shopping big box stores or other shops where owners are off-site.
Lines are short Waiting in long lines for checkout or to pick up merchandise ordered online can drain consumers’ energy and contribute to stress. Local businesses tend to have short lines and small crowds, which can lead to a more pleasant shopping experience.
Generates tax revenue
Local businesses generate more tax revenue per sales dollar, according to Rubicon, a digital marketplace for waste and recycling businesses. Taxes paid by local small businesses go to support schools, parks, roads, and other programs that benefit the community as well.
Support nonprofits
Local businesses often support good work in the community, such as nonprofit groups. These can
include schools and sports teams, among other groups. According to Dr. Sue Lynn Sasser, professor of economics at the University of Central Oklahoma, studies indicate nonprofits receive 250 percent more support from small businesses than larger ones. Support other local businesses
Local business support other local businesses by buying and selling among each other. A local, independently owned restaurant may source its ingredients from local farms, which means visitors to such eateries are supporting multiple local businesses each time they dine out.
Small businesses are a boon to the economy, particularly local economies. These enterprises help their communities in a multitude of ways.
Chamber of Commerce
started the Loyal to Local Passport Program to encourage shopping locally during the holiday season. The program challenged people to spend at least $250 or more at five passport booklet participating businesses. A person had to make $250 in qualifying purchases to return the booklet for a chance to win prizes.
During the 2023 program, more than $150,000 in local spending was tracked with more than 560 completed passports turned in, the chamber reported. Bivens noted that some of those participating businesses were providing services rather than being a typical retailer.
“For example … we
also had places like Dakota Central in there where you could go pay your cable bill and receive stamps for doing that and be entered into the drawing,” she said.
Businesses also support local charities, benefits and other causes in the community.
“A business wants to be in a community that’s thriving and so I would say a good business owner would understand that supporting the community that they’re a part of is important for their business as well as the entire community,” Bivens said. “That is why the chamber is here. We’re here to help businesses support each other and industries support each other. We have a lot of nonprofit members as well as private members, public members because they’re all a very important part of our local
economy. And everybody needs to be a part of it to have us all succeed.”
The chamber has 354 members from the area.
Members conduct business in Jamestown even if they’re not located here, Bivens said. They include retailers, manufacturers, hospitality, tourism, medical and ag and energy.
“The benefit of being a chamber member and the chamber having your business information is that when we get calls or when we get questions, we refer our chamber members first, we can help you promote your business because we have your business information,” she said. If they have to look outside the membership to help someone they try to do that but they don’t always have that information, she said. ksteiner@jamestownsun.
Kathy Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
Emily Bivens, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, holds a Loyal to Local Holiday Passport booklet outside of the chamber office. She said shopping locally helps strengthen communities in several ways. The Loyal to Local Holiday Passport Program promotes shopping locally during the holiday season.
