"Buy Local" Grants Aim to Support Local Businesses

• Author: Monica Jackson
• Posted: 2024-07-17

One of the things that makes America's economy so strong on a world stage is its relentless approach to small businesses operating a large portion of commerce. While Walmart and Target might be international conglomerates, that mom 'n' pop gas station with the little deli in Backwoods Idaho is the type of business you're likely to find in every town in the USA. Unfortunately, because these businesses aren't huge corporations, they're also the businesses most likely affected by the current global Covid-19 pandemic and thus the businesses in need of the most help. This is why the "buy local" campaign has been started in Florida.

As of 2019, there were an estimated 67,000 people who lived in the mid-sized city of Tamarac, Florida, and the city's entire economy is driven by small businesses, as you won't find any Wall Street equivalent corporations there or giant stadiums hosting sporting franchises like in Miami or Tampa Bay. Tamarac is very rural in its makeup for a city, and it's suffering a lot from the current pandemic, with businesses failing at an alarming rate. This is why the city launched new efforts to help these struggling businesses through its "Small Business Stabilization Grant program" that's offering $5,000 in grants to small businesses that apply and are approved.

Tamarac is able to offer these grants because they're funneling their federal money through the CARES Act into local businesses. Starting in almost two weeks, on August 24, the city of Tamarac will be accepting applications for grants. While it isn't necessarily a stipulation with the grant money that businesses have to spend this money with other local businesses, it is strongly encouraged that small businesses support one another.

For instance, the city of Tamarac is hoping that restaurants shop with local farmers and butchers, and that their community of small businesses patronize each other through what they're calling their "buy local"campaign. The hope here is that this grant money will stimulate the local economy with a lot of small businesses in the area exchanging money back and forth and really bolstering sales for some businesses that are all but failing.

The city partnered up with the Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce for this campaign, and they're hoping that a few hundred small businesses with $5,000 in grant money each will be enough to really spur the economy back to life, if they're willing to spend the money with local suppliers and purveyors around the area. Another big hope here is that this will encourage larger businesses to join in and look locally instead of looking out of state for the best deals. If businesses that can afford to do business in Tamarac keep their money in the city, this means a lot more money floating around the local economy, which is a solid safeguard against more businesses failing due to the virus.

While Florida might be open, they still do have some restrictions, and a lot of panic in the streets. Many people have stopped going out to a lot of these local businesses, and stores are closing down left and right. Tamarac is hoping this money funneled from the CARES Act will solve a lot of these issues.

The Power of Small Economies

Long before the days of the big box store, the entire nation basically ran off of local economies. Due to the polarization of the nation's past few presidents, many people forget that America is a nation that's built on the principles of small government and local control, and this sort of philosophy really carried over years ago into the small economy. Barbershops, pool halls, restaurants, bowling alleys, florists, and tons of other small businesses in the area of Tamarac are hoping that a cash injection is all that's needed to again boost business.

When local businesses are doing well, entire communities do well. It means more tax revenue for more service, infrastructure upgrades, better schools, and better policing, America is a land of many different cultures and different ways of life. Local areas like Tamarac operate a lot differently than a place like New York, even though they're both cities in the same nation. For smaller cities like Tamarac, their success depends on their small businesses.

By the start of September, Tamarac is hoping to see if their "buy local" initiative has had any impact on the success of small businesses in the area.