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Tuesday, 18 December 2007 |
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Page 3 of 3
These sentiments echoed those expressed by S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford in July when he spoke out against legislation that would award incentives packages to Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s. The outdoor retail giants were considering opening stores in South Carolina and requested tax subsidies, job credits and other benefits.
“I’m not here to say I don’t want Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops to come to South Carolina, but I don’t think it makes good common sense to penalize small, family-owned businesses by using their tax dollars to bring new retailers to the state,” Sanford said at a news conference at Haddrell’s Point Tackle & Supply in Charleston. “Business shouldn’t be grown based on who has the best lobbyists in Washington; you ought to grow your business by competing in the marketplace.”
In New England, Friends of Midcoast Maine, a regional grassroots organization, worked with the Institute of Self Reliance in 2003 on a study that yielded similar results to those found by Civic Economics. For every $100 spent at a local store, $45 was invested back into the local or regional community as compared with $14 for $100 spent at a multinational retailer.
Based partly on the study results, Maine passed legislation this year that requires economic impact studies on large-scale retail development projects and approves only those projects that will not have an adverse impact on jobs, local businesses and municipal finances.
According to Charleston-based America’s Research Group, these findings are fairly consistent with patterns from around the country. Owner Britt Beemer said he’s seen a national trend that shows local businesses put an average of 20% more back into local economies than do multi-national stores. However, he noted, some of this money is offset by the national chains’ better benefits packages.
“This (20%) is a conservative number because although the actual amount may be even higher, national companies generally offer better benefits packages, thus evening out the numbers a bit,” Beemer said. “Also, national companies tend to pay more, but this is not consistent.”
Borders Group Inc., which includes Borders and Waldenbooks, offers premium benefits packages to its employees, including health care coverage for same-sex domestic partners and access to health care coverage for part-time employees.
“Generally speaking, because Borders is a national company, we have the ability to offer our employees a very attractive benefits package,” said Mary C. Davis, corporate affairs manager for Borders Group. “Borders also supports local and regional authors by prominently displaying their books in our stores and hosting readings and other events to help create awareness and generate sales of local authors’ books.”
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