Archive: Opinions

I substituted for a regular member at a Business Networking International (BNI) chapter meeting this week.  BNI chapters hold structured weekly meetings in which members both promote their own businesses and refer business to fellow members.  These groups can bring thousands of dollars worth of business to its members, offering a tangible way for local businesses to support each other.

As I wander around town reporting on events and local people, various themes appeal to me.  I'm a sucker for saving local historical buildings and promoting area history.  I like when our municipalities try to lower taxes, or at least not raise them too much.  I love it when we get stories of Lansing students winning contests and succeeding in general.  And one of my favorite themes is local people supporting local businesses.

In a way this week's story about Buffalo Street Books is a case in point.  While one of the two huge national chain book store outlets is desperately put everything on sale this week to prepare for closing, a group of local people have been pledging to rescue a local bookstore by creating a unique consortium of investors to keep Buffalo Street Books' doors open.  If successful this will be a great example of keeping business and money in Tompkins County.

The Lansing Farmer's Market is another way the Town supports local business people.  While I don't think they make a ton of money there, the merchants do get a place to sell their produce and wares for a ridiculously low participation fee.  The Ithaca Farmer's Market is a more established version of the same. 

Local restaurants, inns, wineries, and all kinds of businesses are creative about how they help each other.  Merchants and More on Cayuga's East Shore is an example of a group of tourism-related businesses that join forces to hold joint events and help promote each other.  Last year one of their events involved a scavenger hunt in which people had to find objects in each participating business, then bring them to the Rogue's Harbor Inn where they could taste wines, eat dinner, and collect their prizes.

The great thing about the BNI meeting was how much the members evidently like each other, and revel in helping each other.  One guest commented on the relaxed professionalism of the group: camaraderie and laughter made a meeting with a serious business purpose fun, while that serious purpose was never lost.

In our business we like to support the community as much as is practical, and I am thrilled when local businesses support us with their advertising.   I hear that theme repeatedly from many local business owners.  The trend is growing as people realize the value that exists in their own community.

As Lansing dips its foot into the Town Center water it will be interesting to see how ready we are to really support a local business community.  When the Lansing supermarket opens this summer, I am hoping the community will sustain a business that is owned by local investors and will provide jobs to Lansing residents.  In an environment where more people are finding it hard to afford living here, it's great to see our neighbors supporting each others livelihoods and ability to stay and participate in the community, making it a richer quality of life for everybody. 

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