Our View: Buy local, start early for Maine pandemic holiday shopping

Mainers should remember that it’s just as easy to order products from a local business as it is to order from a national online merchant, but the impact on the local economy is not the same. Research by the Maine Center for Economic Policy has found that for every $100 spent in a local business, $58 will remain in the community, supporting jobs with local suppliers, business services, repairs and maintenance. Chain stores also employ local people, but they keep only $33 of every $100 in the community. Shopping the online giant Amazon.com ships even more money out of state, because it does not employ local people, pay property taxes or advertise.

Click here to read the full story, first published November 22, 2020, in the Portland Press Herald.