March 18, 2009 Plan underway to help struggling small businesses Play video

(NECN: Lauren Collins, Manchester, NH) - A little change can make a big difference. That's the message on the seacoast of New Hampshire today in an effort to support local businesses.

"We may be 100-years-old, but we're not afraid to try new things."

Jackson Hardware's been on the seacoast for a century. There's a Home Depot two miles down the road, two Wal-Marts in the area and a Lowe's under construction.

"Every time one of those comes in and opens, it takes a piece of the pie."

Lisa Corcoran says customers are lured away by the grand opening discounts and bulk buy sales of the big box stores, and are then surprised to find many items priced the same here as elsewhere.

"And, they feel like they need to point it out to me. I already know that. Thank you, though. Now, just don't point it out to me, point it out to your friends."

Which is exactly what she hopes happens with the 10% shift.

The 10% shift is a pledge that seacoast communities and business leaders signed onto today to shift 10% of their spending from non-local chains to locally-owned independent businesses.

"The challenge is sometimes in not getting what you need immediately."

Brendan Cooney runs a consulting firm and tries to stock his office from a Portsmouth supplier. He'd order ahead on items he knew were not in stock at the local store.

"So, now they started carrying them because I kept going back and I kept checking."

According

to numbers compiled by the Web site, www.civiceconomics.com, every dollar spent locally generates $3.00 in the community. Every dollar spent out side of the area, for the most part, disappears.

Some things are easier to buy locally than others. Fresh food is tough to find in New England in the winter months, but worth the effort in season.

Michelle Lozuaway runs the Newington-based restaurant with the self-explanatory name, Fresh Local. She says a 10% shift would enable her to pay it forward.

"If we had more income, we could support the beef farmers and the pork farmers and that kind of thing, more so than we can afford to right now."