Charla Robinson, president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce:
-local business is the life blood of a community… jobs, taxes, charitable organizations all benefit. Choosing TBay First really does provide a money back guarantee for all of us, because the money comes back to us in so many positive ways.
-COVID taught us the importance of supporting other businesses & working with other businesses, co-operating with your competitors. The importance of community spirit: we are all here to help each other.
-Entrepreneurs have a spirit. They have a desire to fix things, to fill the gap, to find the niche to help their local community, to provide jobs for people they know. That creativity, that innovation and that sort of free spirit, wanting to have control over their own destiny, that feeling of agency: I’m going to build the life that I want my way, and if I fail it will be because of my choices not because somebody else is imposing their rules or decisions on me… Entrepreneurs wants to take control of their destiny and that is what led them to start a business or partner with an existing business.
-It often does cost more to shop local, but the return on that is there for you… you can go back and talk to that local business owner… and you know that all you spend is coming back in taxes and community support. Think of those returns on investment.
