In 2006, Art Costa, a New London native and former IT software developer retired. He returned to New London, promising himself never “to work a job he didn’t like.” Costa became involved with community members with the intent to improve the area by focusing on the local New London economy.
Seven years later and that initiative has taken shape as New London Local First: a community-based action organization working to incentivize consumption at the local level, simply by picking ‘local first.’
You may already be familiar with the organization by way of pamphlets distributed in participating businesses, such as Washington St. Coffee House and Muddy Waters.
This week, in an interview with The College Voice, Art took the time to explain the benefits of thinking locally, which are not necessarily intuitive. One goal, he says, is to prevent “economic leakage” which occurs when money leaves the local economy.
To that effect, NLLF takes the clear stance of not being anti-anyone. Our goal is to build “capacity and community,” primarily by popularizing the mindset to first buy locally, if possible, before looking at large for services.
Despite its simplicity, the policy has proven to be very powerful for strengthening and healing local economies, particularly post recession. Art reports that this is because of a multiplier effect that occurs when you spend locally; he estimates every $1 dollar spent locally generates around $3 within the community.
To be eligible, a company must conduct most of its business locally, as well as be autonomous. A local McDonalds branch, for example, does not qualify because its decisions are being made corporately. For a $100 one-time fee, participating companies regain a meaningful connectivity to their local business partners, as well as a host of other offerings, including sustainability workshops and low-interest loan opportunities.
Colloquially called ‘localism,’ the movement embodies the desire to shift from an individualistic business mindset to “an understanding that real security comes from community—from sharing not from hoarding, from partnership not domination.”
Art explains that he struggles to describe the movement as just about purchasing. “It’s really about building capacity and community, about building a culture”. He emphasizes how this community resilience is achieved by building connections between businesses, and that this is more important than material capital.
One group that has been doing exactly that is the Hodges Square Village Association. On campus, the project is most recently known for the attention it garnered around the efforts of two recent alumni, Ryland Hormel ‘14 and Max Nichols 14’. Last spring, the two brought together the Student Volunteer Army, with the intent to energize the relationship between campus and the community.
Their efforts have had an impact on engaging the student body, which Nichols described as ‘cyclically’ disengaged from the New London community. “By the time students develop an interest in what’s going on down the road, they graduate, and there’s no continuity in the relationship.”
One effort by the college to contribute to community integration has been in designing a park for Hodges Square. The project is being spearheaded by Professors Ann Devlin and Stephen Fan, who are working with students to design a space that will accomodate local residents needs and provide more shape to the area.
Of course, obstacles exist for organizations like NLLF and its local sibling development organizations. “A lot of businesses will choose to build locally, but keeping folks engaged and active is the biggest challenge.” Equally, the prospect of building New London’s localism culture to rival corporate consumption will surely take some time.
Mr. Costa expressed an interest in working further with Connecticut College on a variety of issues, including local food sourcing. Policies that could help the College are simple, he says. “Nobody is saying to the College that you need to buy-out New London. Just make it a policy to spend money here when you can.” Already, Sustainability Co-ordinator Josh Stoeffel and Costa have been discussing ways in which the College and the community can act on these suggestions.
Ultimately, the endgame is to put into something that’s sustainable. “We want to have a resilient community at many levels – from planning and infrastructure, from community, and the encouragement of the youth to participate in achieving a caring community”. Art emphasizes this notion of caring as vital, particularly in the face of inevitable variables, such as the economic recession of 2008.
“According to a four-year study conducted by the Institute for Local State Reliance, independent businesses in U.S. communities with active localism campaigns reported the strongest figures since the surveys began in 2007—a 5.6 percent increase over the previous year. ‘The increase was more than two and a half times the gain (2.1 percent) reported by independent businesses located in areas lacking such a campaign.”
The measure is indicative of the potential in harnessing local, a potential Art Costa and his colleagues will look to augment in the years to come with NLLF. •
