Heather Johnson of the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce says it’s small and medium-sized businesses that support the municipality with tax money, helping to make Fort Frances “a wonderful place to live.”
According to Johnson, shopping local, and the revenue it generates, benefits the town in multiple ways.
“When we say small and medium businesses. They may only have one or two employees, or they can have up to maybe 20, but they’re locally owned and locally operated,” says Johnson. “When you put money into their hands, that money goes back into paying tax, your fire department, your policing, your schools, their tax money, both personal and business go back in to support the town that we live in.”
The money spent at a local business further benefits the community with things like local sports team sponsorship.
“We’re then allowed to get the benefits of living in a well-organized town,” says Johnson. “Many of these small businesses are also sponsors of local children’s teams or adult teams for sports, like swimming, curling, hockey, and everything that we hold dear here for our kids to be able to participate in.”
“Your money is then again used when you support a local business to support all of the things that make the town a wonderful place to live,” said Johnson.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the economy and the heart of our communities and will be critical to our recovery from the COVID-19 recession,” said Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export promotion and International Trade, in a press release. “As our economy begins to safely reopen, Shop Local investments will encourage Canadians to support their local small businesses, helping them recover quicker.”
Johnson understands there are limitations to shopping locally, but every sale made in town is appreciated.
“While we understand that not everybody will buy everything locally – and that’s okay – we appreciate it when you do, and so do all of our store owners.”
