Home building is back and booming more than ever. Turn on your TV or drive down the street and you’ll see a number of new houses going up and longstanding homes receiving an overhaul of renovation.
But what about all of the materials used in these projects? The North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) and Independent We Stand partnered together to see what kind of impact the sources used have on the local infrastructure.
Their study, Home Sweet Home Pros’ Edition, found that “For every dollar a contractor or builder spends at locally-owned home centers, lumberyards and power equipment dealers, nearly twice as much of that revenue stays in the local community compared to when it is spent at a big-box chain.”
To determine the impact, the study conducted by Civics Economics focused on four main activities construction companies perform that have the potential to put money back into the local community: labor, profit, procurement and charitable giving.
Using data from local retailers as well as available financial real-world data, they found that “when builders choose to make their purchases at a locally owned retailer, nearly twice as much of that revenue recirculates back into the local economy.”
Nationwide, about $243 billion is spent just on single-family residential homes a year. If a mere 10% of the materials purchased for those projects were sourced with local supplies, hometowns could benefit from an additional $1.5 million to be used for things like city parks, job creation, schools, police stations, bike paths and local charities.
What can you do? Go local as often as possible on any home projects, and help spread the word by sharing this information with other friends and family who are in the industry or who are looking to build or renovate a home.
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