Local Enterprise

When a community determines change is necessary to advance the community-at-large, and it commits when and wherever feasible to buying locally, new suppliers rise to meet demands for goods and services. New businesses may first emerge as cottage industries and with time grow into storefronts. New opportunities entice existing enterprises to broaden current business plans to expand into new areas of associated commerce or enter new economic ventures.

While recirculating money within a community enhances economic sustainability and helps keep residents employed, only local businesses can specifically tailor and craft goods and services to achieve the community’s needs. Mass produced items by manufacturers elsewhere are driven by sales profits, not necessarily needs. Most buyers today are required to adapt needs to acquired products rather than having access to adaptive products that serve multiple purposes.

Buying locally reduces costly waste from packaging products that ultimately end up in landfill; and long-distance shipments of goods that reduce atmospheric pollution produced by vehicular transportation. Most local manufactured items can also be more easily repaired when damaged or new parts are needed than those mass produced elsewhere; with products designed to be discarded rather than repaired. Local acquisitions last and service customer needs longer.

For all aspects of new locally focused businesses and industry there are successful business models available for entrepreneurs to review and evaluate; to determine which model more closely tracks new business visions and interests. Information on most models can be found in the public library and through articles online and in scholarly business journals.

With start-up enterprises, websites and social media offer entrepreneurs, economical means to inform others elsewhere about access to high quality local goods and services for export. In the early life of a new enterprise, online sales oftentimes keep new ventures afloat until they become more established.

In addition to offering important labor assistance for local business and industry, welcoming Native Americans and new immigrants to communities brings added cultural enrichment, new foods, and craft skills that broaden community enrichments throughout the Intermountain West to ensure better life, greater health, added safety, and a strengthened public welfare.

When local opportunities exist for new residents to move upwards through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in seeking security, love, esteem, and happiness, the value of these human assets help cement the community’s resiliency to fight and withstand detrimental outside forces - even the impacts of climate change.

It must be understood integrating change and expecting results take time. What we do to strengthen community resiliency today may not ever be apparent to this generation of contributors, but it will reduce civic and environmental stresses upon those others that call home: Home.

RAFI Architecture 702-435-7234 www.rafiarchitecture.com