Government Buy Local Procurement On the Rise

We all know that its important for consumers and businesses to buying local. Supporting local businesses builds prosperity, creates employment, helps innovate, keeps communities unique and reduces impacts. (see more on the benefits here)

$100 Billion Lever

But what of governments? They are perfectly positioned to ensure local businesses thrive through purchasing – they have both the mandate and political will to buy from local business. After all, they are spending taxpayers money, and they are mandated to support local economic development. They are big spenders too. It’s estimated that the public sector in Canada spends over $100 billion annually. This could be a huge lever for change.

Unfortunately, regulations, complicated procurement processes, and the lack of a way to determine what is a “local” business, or a “local” product or service means that big, multinational companies very often win government contracts. For instance, the Northwest Partnership Trade Agreement (formerly TILMA) affects government purchasers BC, requiring that equal consideration be given to suppliers from BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan for goods greater than $10,000, services greater than and construction greater than $100,000 or greater. It also affects Municipal and institutional purchasing (hopitals and universities) at higher thresholds. The problem with regulations that promote free trade are that they often effectively deny small and mid-sized local businesses access to a big market.

Local Food

Several governments are working to improve local purchasing in their simplest supply chains: food. In 2010 the City of Toronto set a goal of 50% local food procurement. They began with their child care centres and are having great success for little cost.

The University of Victoria has been working to localize their food supply for years. They’ve decentralized some of their food budgets, allowing more chefs to buy smaller purchases, which keeps their local food buys below the thresholds where trade regulations apply. Their latest success has been in requiring their food distributors to provide local food.

In December 2010, the City of Vancouver’s Food Policy Council convened a meeting to assess the potential for Vancouver to buy more local food. Expect to hear more about this as the Greenest City Action Plan is implemented. Goal #10 is “local food: Become a global leader in urban food systems” with a 2020 target to reduce the carbon footprint of our food by 33 per cent. When they say “our” they mean the whole city, and what better place to start than with the government’s own procurement.

Help for “What is Local?”

Local Food+ is a  Toronto-based local, sustainable food certification program that provides institutional and government food buyers a tool to assess the “local-ness” and “sustainability” – both environmental and social – of their purchases. They are beginning to work with governments to help them buy more local food. As they move into the BC market, Local Food + certification may help some government purchasers overcome the “what is local” barrier by requiring the certification in requests for proposals, in the same way that Green Seal, Energy Star or other eco-labels are currently used as requirements for other product buys.

OWN YOUR OWN Ethic Spreads as Locals Challenge Themselves to Buy Local Goods

The trend started by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon’s 100-mile diet continues as Buy Local awareness rises. Two new projects have recently launched where consumers are challenging themselves to source products locally.

It started in 2005 with the Tyee series chronicling efforts to eat local food for one year. It caused a sensation, spawned a book, and a movement to eat local food was born. Food is hard to give up, but it’s a simple supply chain. It’s either grown, hatched, caught or harvested within that 100 miles or it’s not. Another Tyee series looked at the more complex supply chains of local clothing. Now two new projects take on the challenge of buying locally.

New Westminster’s Sheila Keenan is three months into a year-long project to get her groceries, clothing, restaurant meals, gifts and more all within City limits. She’s thwarting car travel and big box stores in an effort to support the local economy and examine her own consumer behavior. Along the way she is discovering some of the many benefits of buying locally. She’s spending less money by making more conscious choices and discovering new and old businesses that make New Westminster unique. She hasn’t found much that she can’t buy locally, but she’s making a list of businesses she’d like to see move in. Read about her project here, and check out here blog here. We’re glad to see that Sheila is committing to shop at more independent businesses in February, because shopping at her local Wal-mart, McDonald’s and Starbucks isn’t Buying Local, it’s just shopping at Big-Box or multi-national chains close to home. If spending is to benefit the local economy, local ownership (that supports the multiplier effect) is key.

Darren Barefoot is a Vancouver writer committed to a year of living Canadian. He’s focusing on a different area of consumption each month this year, and sourcing only Canadian-made goods and services, except where they don’t exist. See the photo below from his website for more information.

Darren’s criteria are strict – he’s ideally looking for products entirely sourced and produced in Canada. He’s lucky he lives in Vancouver for our riches of local food, our healthy greenhouse sector, and the opportunities for good local travel. I can imagine he’ll be doing some canning this fall, as all of us who want to eat local food must do to stock up for winter.

As he continues on his journey, he’s creating a great resource of Canadian-made products based on his research that all consumers interested in OWN YOUR OWN should check out.

Know of other projects that challenge consumers or businesses to OWN YOUR OWN? Let us know. We’re especially interested in businesses that are localizing their supply chains.

LOCO is excited to welcome PacBlue Printing as its newest founding member.

PacBlue is very much a local business. A digital printer founded almost 60 years ago, they have developed expertise in serving small business needs. PacBlue is a staffed with sharp and creative professionals providing a diverse range of services:

• Business Printing Services: Marketing Material, Lightjet Printing, Vinyl Graphics, Trade-show Displays, & High Speed Copying

• Commercial Printing Services: Scanning & Imaging, Signage Printing, Large Format Printing, Small Format Printing & Reprographics

They are the trusted supplier of other local companies, like our friends at Salt Spring Coffee. You may have unknowingly seen their work during the 2010 Olympics where they were a supplier for printed materials, banners, posters and booklets. We know from personal experience that they have great customer service, working under the stress of tight timelines with a smile.

But of course PacBlue is so much more than local. They have been working to improve social and environmental impacts for years.

On the environment side, PacBlue is committed to protecting resources, leaving the smallest footprint possible and helping their customers do the same. They are a FSC-certified facility, and offer customers many greener options:

- 100% PCF recycled content paper on regular orders,

- 30% PCF recycled paper for cad plotting and reprographic printing,

- Bio-Banner Vinyl (a 100% biodegradable PVC material),

- Bio-Board (a 100% biodegradable board option)

They reduce waste before a job leaves their shop. The work direct-to-substrate for large format imaging eliminate the need for plates, and avoid print over-runs by delivering “print on demand” that produces the exact volumes required. PacBlue’s printing process eliminates water in the printing process and vastly reduces the emission of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds).

Read more about PacBlue’s commitment to sustainable business practices on their sustainability page.

On the social side, PacBlue has a great culture and workforce and it’s no surprise why – their employees are like family members. They provide a dog-friendly environment for staff, allow staff to decorate the workspace, and run regular contests to engage staff (currently “design a door” for the office renovation). They also have great community spirit, supporting local causes and issues such as health and humanitarian aid, the arts, prevention of animal cruelty, and the environment. They sponsor the BC SPCA (and are a dog-friendly environment with three company mascots), Zajac Ranch for Children with serious and chronic illnesses and disabilities, the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Flowers for Food Society that provides opportunity and support for homeless, recovering people (mental affliction and/or physical addiction), and other marginalized or needy groups in Canada.

On the economic side, PacBlue is a locally owned business that is Vancouver-based and family-owned. Their commitment to support other local suppliers means that each time they buy local products and services 3 times the economic value is created for our community than with chain printers. PacBlue is a member of both the International Reprographic Association (IRGA), and the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA), and is committed to the highest industry practice and the highest industry standards.

Have we piqued your curiosity? Our LOCO team would be happy to arrange an introduction. As an added incentive, all LOCO members are eligible for a 10% OFF discount from PacBlue. Their commitment to supporting local businesses runs deep and we are excited to have them as a founding member.

Nothing inspires more lively debate than sustainability at Wal-Mart. The company often criticized for poor employment practices (low wages, no overtime, no benefits, anti-union) and pushing smaller businesses out of communities is in the news almost daily for commitments to green their operations, green their supply chain, and this week, for making a commitment to sourcing local food.

You gotta give it to the mega-retailer, they know how to give people what they want. Local food sales became big business in the past decade – North American farmer’s markets generated more than $2 billion a year in sales, with steady growth every year. And who doesn’t love a deal? Studies show that when Wal-Mart moves into a town, grocery prices everywhere drop. When the company moved into organics in 2006, they began competing with pricey competitor Whole Foods.

Wal-mart’s forays into sustainable foods (organic foods, sustainable fish, and now local food) are based on the purportedly altruistic premise that all families, no matter how wealthy, should have access to healthy food. Wal-Mart will no doubt bring more local food into the mouths of consumers local to that state (local food sourcing in Canada will roll out by 2013). And Wal-Mart will use its sheer size to make good on its promise to bring healthy, local and organic food to consumers at cheaper prices. The sheer vastness of Wal-Mart will require it. The company had over $400 billion in sales last year, with groceries accounting for more than half. It’s estimated that if Wal-Mart were a country, it would be the 19th largest economy in the world.

Is all this cheaper pricing and access to shelf space good for local farmers and economies?

Wal-Mart uses its size to lower prices by squeezing suppliers on pricing, and competing with smaller retailers aggressively on price, often squeezing them out of the market. In this case, those may be local grocers committed to supplying farmer’s with a fair price. Because of their purchasing power, Wal-Mart will also be sourcing from a certain scale of farm (mid-sized), and in so doing influence the food grown by those farms. Bigger farms and big food purchasers tend to drive monocultures. Part of the beauty of the local food movement thus far has been that it has exposed consumers to the diversity of produce available in their region. Right now in BC more than 60 varieties of heritage and regular apples alone are in season. Local farmers in the future may well have less opportunity to decide what they grow, to set fair prices, to sell to a variety of retailers, and consumers may have less options in food and retailers.

And remember that Wal-Mart is entering the local food market not to support local farmers and build strong local economies, but rather to reduce environmental impact and improve efficiency. Reducing food transportation miles not only reduces the company’s environmental impact, but creates cost efficiencies in the company’s vast distribution infrastructure. Consider that in the last 110 or so year the split between the revenues of food producer versus distributor has been steadily declining. In 1900, of every dollar spent on food, 40 cents went to the farmer. Only 7 cents of every food dollar today remains in the farmers hands. There is big money in food distribution.

And what of local economies?

Local economies are built on independent ownership and the concept of the multiplier effect (ME). The ME demonstrates that money spent with local businesses circulates through other local businesses and thus “multiplies” in economic impact to the benefit of community members. Locally owned businesses often have more localized supply chains, and are more likely to use other local suppliers (couriers, office supply, financial/accounting, marketing). They in turn support other local businesses, and wealth flows and remains in a community. Most importantly, owners live in the community spending their profits locally.

Wal-Mart made $14 billion in profit last year alone. It’s CEO earns $19.2 million dollars annually, while it’s average employee makes $20K. The Walton family has a net worth of $86.3 billion. Buying local food from Wal-Mart only increases the vast fortunes of a rich few. Wal-Mart and other big box stores have helped to dismantle local economies in many places by clear cutting small businesses from main streets across North America.

Please eat local food. Grow it. Buy it from a farmer. From a farmer’s market. From a CSA box. From a local store. Even a locally owned chain. But please don’t get your local food at Wal-Mart, and don’t think for a second that the Wal-Mart effect will be good one for local food.

Last week Vancouver City Council approved a trial separated bicycle lane on Hornby Street. Several business groups were on hand to denounce the plan. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), the Vancouver Board of Trade (VBOT) and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) all came out in some way opposing the plan. It would take away too many parking spots, it would reduce business, there wasn’t enough consultation, etc.

Some green Vancouver businesses made sure that the City heard that not all businesses oppose bike infrastructure. Some members of Businesses for Bikes, working through the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) presented to council the night of the vote in support of the trial.

Full disclosure – I’m a keen cyclist. I don’t own a car, and I ride my bike to most business meetings, sometimes adapting proper decorum and showing up a tad sweaty with sopping rain gear in tow. While I understand that not everyone is so keen as myself or the 60+ businesses that joined Bikes for Business, I still wonder if these traditional business groups really represent the opinions of a majority of their business members. Everybody wants customers, and I’m sure that most businesses don’t care how they show up. Are business groups representing just a vocal minority, or sticking to an old paradigm  that pits business against the environment?

I have worked with businesses on sustainability issues for over a decade. Although the rare few begin greening their business and become born-again green businesses, most are practically concerned about wasting resources, wasting money and reducing their contribution to global warming and other environmental/social issues. Business owners have kids and care about their futures. Most of them have probably seen An Inconvenient Truth and most understand that we are at a crucial turning point for mankind and none of us can afford to stick our heads in the sand (or our ledgers) and ignore the fact that we all have a role to play. They also understand that successful, innovative businesses get the opportunity to reduce waste and impact, and that “green”, “eco-efficiency” or “sustainability”, is moving into the mainstream of traditional business operations. The future, with its dwindling resources, will be a race for the survival of the fittest. The fittest businesses will create the new economy. They will make sound decisions that consider the economic reality of making money, while considering their people and community and being thankful for the resources they use and taking responsibility for their footprint.

Businesses, the environment and the economy would all be better off if business groups like the DVBIA, the CFIB and the VBOT spent their energy helping Hornby Street businesses adapt and capitalize on the expected 300 cyclists passing their doors every morning in the peak hour (expected to increase 400% from 72) instead of enforcing a business as usual “profits versus the environment” stance. If we plan to eek out a future here in this place, it’s got to be profit AND the environment, bikes AND business.

The concept of a carrot mob is simple – use a mob of customers and their buying power to support the type of business practices that conscious consumers want to see. The mob is used as a “carrot”, read: incentive to greening business. Carrot mobs lobby local businesses to commit a certain percentage of sales on the day of the mob towards greening their business – installing energy efficient lighting, putting more local/sustainable food on a menu, etc.

Vancouver’s Carrot Mob group is gearing up and Salt Spring Coffee Company, a local carbon neutral and fair trade favorite, is pledging 110% of profits to improve their Main Street location’s energy efficiency. The bigger the customer support, the more power carrot mobbing has, so JOIN US.

Date: Sunday May 16th, 2010

Location: Salt Spring Coffee, 4295 Main Street

More details: Carrot Mob Vancouver facebook page

Cool Concept! The Province of Nova Scotia has it’s own local business network and is organizing reverse trade shows to help foster relationships between government purchasers and small and mid-sized businesses (SMEs). It encourages SMEs to become part of the government procurement process and allows local businesses to become more competitive.