When you take a trip this summer, remember to bring a little bit of it back to share with your community. I don’t mean “gifts” in the physical sense of the term. I am suggesting that while you are visiting other places, you take a somewhat analytic and questioning view of their overall business community. And when you return, share your impressions and suggestions with our business organizations.

The Corvallis Independent Business Alliance values our close working relationship with the Downtown Corvallis Association and the new organization formed by the merger of the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership. We each have our unique focus, but we are united in our determination to keep Corvallis unique, prosperous, diverse and healthy. We are constantly seeking community input and researching appropriate solutions that provide a solid foundation for our future.

During your visit, ask your friends about the business support for their community, schools and cultural programs. How do they feel about the commitment of the local businesses to serve their customers and invest in the local economy?

Are their downtowns vibrant, clean and pleasant to walk around? Do they have unique shops with long-term local owners? Are the shoppers friendly and the clerks helpful and knowledgeable? Or perhaps only widely scattered businesses, located along long strips, with lots of driving and no local character — just national retailers and big box stores?

One irony and potential downfall is the fact that those of us who have practically never left the mid-valley really do not have anything to which we can compare Corvallis. We may never have seen a dying downtown, endless strip malls, national retailers and big boxes in every town, etc. We only have the words of those who have moved here to escape another fading town and who are drawn to our quality of life. We don’t have the experience of driving from one town to another and discovering that they seem to be alike, with little diversity or local character to give the town its characteristic flavor and unique identity.

It is only natural to be critical of your everyday surroundings if you have no comparative perspective. We need this outlook to avoid following other towns down a path from which we cannot return. Without this insight we face a loss of our local character, the decline in the stability of local financial support for our community and inadequate respect for the future of our children.

I am concerned that many of the requests to seek national retailers and the willingness to submit to their requirements originate from Corvallis residents who have never seen what happens to a town that loses its locally owned, independently operated businesses.

I realize that when someone is vacationing, everything takes on a special “wonderfulness,” and I certainly do not want to suggest anything that may detract from your vacation. Perhaps these questions are best put to those who have moved here. But I believe that everyone can still be aware enough of the areas they visit to share some insights when they return. There will also be plenty of positive experiences that our business community can learn from, so please come back and share some of your perceptions and feelings so we can keep Corvallis unique and vibrant.