In the next year or so we may see a sort of mini retail boom in Corvallis as proposed and already in-progress developments take place. Soon the riverfront will have several new tenants (retail, office and residential), Third and Fourth streets have vacancies with new and proposed tenants, and the recently announced developments along Ninth Street have already stated their intention to seek national chain stores to fill their spaces.

My question is simply, “Why not look regionally and locally first and help keep Corvallis unique?”

This would help preserve the qualities that most residents identify as a primary reason for choosing to raise their families here. If a regional retailer can’t be attracted to locate here, then it is reasonable to expand the search.

The Corvallis Independent Business Alliance supports the appropriate and relevant growth that citizens desire. But why not give our uniqueness a chance to sustain itself and attract other quality merchants who will also support and nourish our diverse values and lifestyle?

Last year, in a meeting with CIBA leaders, our mayor, Charlie Tomlinson, while still a city councilor, proposed sending small recruitment teams to other communities that we admired and respected. He thought we could attract targeted businesses to either relocate or open another branch here. I believe this is a worthwhile effort, rather than just accepting another formula business that will only represent ideas and products based on priorities determined by absentee owners.

Local owners develop their ideas based on interactions with their friends, neighbors, and community input. Independent ownership means that they determine what they carry, not some corporate officer focusing on bottom-line profitability. We have a golden opportunity to fundamentally shape the character and responsiveness of our city for years to come; we should not let this opportunity pass without our best effort to influence the outcome for our community’s long-term benefit.

There is a sustained and substantial movement across America in which caring and concerned cities are establishing Independent Business Alliances. These IBAs help nourish their economies for the mutual benefit of their citizens and locally owned businesses.

In several of these communities, studies have been done that consistently demonstrate that over $3 of local economic benefit is created for every dollar spent in a locally owned business compared to the same dollar spent in a national retailer. So not only do locally owned, independently operated businesses better reflect and respond to community interests and needs, they also contribute over three times as much economic impact as the national retailers!