Web site urges Vermonters to spend stimulus checks locally
MONTPELIER, Vt.—Keep it in Vermont.
That's the message from an online campaign urging Vermonters to spend their economic stimulus checks locally, on Vermont farms, businesses, and nonprofits.
Dismissing the checks as a Band-Aid solution, local food advocates Robin McDermott and Rob Williams of Waitsfield say invest the money in Vermont, where farms and businesses are feeling the pinch.
"So it seems to me the most immediate relief we can provide to our friends, and neighbors and colleagues who run businesses, and farms and nonprofits in Vermont, is reinvest our so-called found money in those businesses and farms and nonprofits," said Williams, a Champlain College professor.
The $600 to $1200 payments going to an estimated 280,000 Vermonters can go a long way in such a small state, McDermott said.
"If we do with our check what `the man' wants us to do, we will go online and buy a new computer or TV from a big box store headquartered on the other side of the country. Whoosh ... there goes the cash right out of the state," the Web site said.
Instead, organizers want Vermonters to share their windfalls with other Vermonters, believing it will trickle down -- if a local farmer benefits, he or she might, in turn, spend money at a local store, where an employee might pay for dinner at a local restaurant that buys food from a local farmer.
But whether it's the best step for the Vermont economy is questionable, said Jeffrey Carr, an economist with Williston-based Economic & Policy Resources Inc.
"I understand the feeling behind that, to the extent that Vermont households want to do that, then they should and will do some good," he said. "But whether or not it will do the absolute most good, I think is something that isn't completely clear."
Buying locally must be balanced with consumers' right to the lowest price which makes those dollars go farther, he said.
"It's not an economic slam dunk that you do the most good by buying local farm products, for example, because if all of sudden everybody decides that they want to buy Vermont farm products and there isn't enough of them around, all you do is bid up the price," he said.
But spending -- in Vermont or not -- is good, he said.
If shoppers at the Berlin Mall are any indication, the only Vermont business that will be seeing the economic stimulus money will be those already owed money.
A half-dozen shoppers interviewed in the parking lot Thursday said they planned to dedicate their stimulus checks toward paying bills, not making new purchase.
Lauren Simmons, 27, of Waterbury, said she plans to pay off her
Steve Humphrey, 42, of North Hyde Park, said he too plans to use the money to pay bills. He doesn't believe the checks are going to help the U.S. economy.
"He's just buying time `til he gets out of the White House, he said referring to President Bush.
Even if households pay their bills or save the money, which the Web site encourages, it all helps, Carr said.
"That still builds capacity for future spending," he said. "While it might not help immediately, it makes household financial conditions stronger in the longer run."
As of Wednesday, 105 Vermonters had pledged on the Web site to spend $83,276 in Vermont.
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On the Net:
Keep it in Vermont: http://www.keepitinvermont.org
