Written By Robin Shepherd
• Small businesses account for nearly three-quarters of all businesses in Morgan Hill .
• Employers with less than 9 employees generate $ 1.1 million in sales tax revenue to the City of Morgan Hill .
Shop Gilroy – Spice up the Holidays
Garlic may have put Gilroy on the map , but Gilroy is about more than garlic . Tammy Brownlow , President of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation ( GEDC ), offers this perspective : “ Support the local economy in your shopping decisions . Keep the money in the community . Think about the multiplier effect . For every $ 10 spent at a local biz , $ 7 stays here through taxes , payroll and other expenditures .”
“ Many of our local merchants generate a majority of their annual revenue during the holiday season . Local sales taxes going to the city general fund do help pay for our police , fire department , road maintenance and parks . To the extent that it replaces local shopping , online purchases cut into those sales tax revenues .
“ Shopping local really has a broad impact on local economies . In Gilroy we have about 1,800 small businesses — not just retail products , but all types of goods and services — that account for 75 % of all the jobs in the City , about 16,000 jobs . We have a positive pull factor with high quality retail outlets that bring people from outside in . But it ’ s our local businesses that really generate revenue for the city with very little retail leakage .
“ It ’ s been well documented that small business owners serve on commissions and boards , give to local nonprofits , and are more attached to the community . From the research I ’ ve seen , three quarters of small business sales are sourced locally , and local small businesses naturally look for opportunities to do business with each other .
The GEDC works with Gilroy Welcome Center , the Gilroy Downtown Association and Gilroy ’ s chamber of commerce as well as the City of Gilroy .
“ People know it ’ s important to support the small local businesses , but it ’ s not always top of mind in consumer buying decisions .
Melanie Corona , Coordinator for Gilroy Downtown business Association ( GDBA ), said during the holiday season there ’ s strong collaboration between GDBA , the Gilroy Chamber , downtown merchants and local nonprofits in terms of supporting special events including the holiday parade .
Corona also talked about GDBA ’ s involvement as a member of the California Mainstreet Business Alliance ( CAMBA ).
“ We ’ ve adopted CAMBA ’ s four-point approach to downtown revitalization in order to create economic vitality , a unique sense of place , and a strong commitment to the community by all stakeholders . We formed committees epa . gov gsi-net . com newmoa . org clu-in . org itrcweb . org statisticbrain . com census . gov colorado . gov greenstudents . com
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2016 gmhtoday . com
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