Business & Development

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“A huge proportion of our revenues are based on sales tax,” Schwartz said. “Îf we’re going to continue to provide services we need the revenue. But it runs deeper [than tax revenue] because the more the local economy suffers, [the suffering] increases.”

Schwartz said that County Commissioners had already been preparing an Op-Ed to run in this week’s News&Guide explaining to residents that spending dollars locally can help the local community, so he was glad for the opportunity to record a radio commercial that would further spur dialogue about spending locally.

“We can’t print money like the federal government, but we’re very aware of trying to do the things we can do to promote the local economy,” Schwartz said.
If businesses lose money, their employees lose hours, and have less money to spend, Schwartz said. And money spent in Jackson can bounce around its economy several times, according to Barron.

Barron said that the commercial was meant to do more than just spark spending, but to “revive an interest” in “coming downtown and enjoying Town Square.”
The push for local foot traffic in town coincides with the Chamber of Commerce’s push to bring tourists to Jackson in the early holiday season. An estimated 1,500 locals and tourists showed up for the Town Square holiday lighting ceremony, where Barron introduced Santa Claus, and said the square was full of tourist and local families “corner to corner” in an inspirational scene.

Many tourists were attracted by the Chamber of Commerce’s “Splurge” campaign, which corralled about 90 local businesses, offering discounts until Dec. 15 and marketed the discounts regionally. Chamber tourism director Heather Falk said the program was started last year to attract “girlfriend getaways,” groups of female shoppers living within a 250-mile radius of Jackson who would drive here for a holiday shopping vacation. Falk said it was a way to promote tourism and commerce during slow times, but as an unexpected byproduct, locals came out to take advantage of the deals, as well.

Sales and media reminders can draw locals out on the town, though there’s a limit to money locals can spend in Jackson because many of the products they want are not available here. As one employee at a clothing store said, “Most of the locals don’t know half of the stores that exist in the Town Square.”

Schwartz said he hopes the ad and Op-Ed in the News&Guide can at least start a dialogue about spending locally, despite the fact that people will still go elsewhere.
“I’m the first to admit there are times we all shop elsewhere [than Jackson],” Schwartz said. “That’s partly because of the fact that you can’t get everything you want here, and for one reason or another - including cost - it just make sense and that’s not a problem. But people should just be aware that there’s a relationship” between spending dollars locally and bolstering the local economy.

Looking forward, O’Donaghue said dialogue should include the questions: “What kinds of businesses do we want to attract?” and “How do we get businesses that are compatible with [our] vision and identity?”

And though residents will always look to the internet and towns like Idaho falls for purchases, having more incentive to shop downtown could help take the edge off the boom-and-bust seasonality of Jackson’s commercial sector, and revive the local flavor and “community character,” whose loss is so often lamented during Comp Plan talks and local elections. PJH


PERMALINK:
Merchants get holiday ‘love’ | Planet JH News Article: Business

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