This is in response to the Feb. 14 opinion piece, “From the Right: What defines a company as local?”
I’m glad to see that there is an increasing public debate here in Imperial Valley about the issue of keeping more tax dollars spent locally. I would agree with Mr. Jon Edney that, while there is likely broad support among elected officials for spending public money locally, that the devil is in the details as in how to define what constitutes a “local” company. However, this is a small matter to resolve.
Many other communities such as the cities of Palm Springs and Los Angeles have come up with their own definitions of how to define a local company. We can, too. The Imperial Valley Independent Business Alliance, for which I am the president, believes that for purposes of government spending the definition should be focused on truly local companies (i.e., our homegrown companies that are headquartered in Imperial County). The reason for this is that it offers the highest return on investment due to the multiplier effect. Other organizations such as the Joint Chambers of Commerce would hold that any firm with a local physical presence be included in a definition of local.
At the end of the day it is up to our elected officials and each of their respective bodies to decide what definition they are comfortable with. The Imperial Irrigation District, for example, already gives a 5 percent bid preference to any firm that has a physical presence in its service area. Kudos to it. With roughly 40 percent of our local economy being in the public sector, it is important that we come together to take action to keep more of this public money in our local economy. Our elected officials need to understand what a huge opportunity this is to stimulate our economy and bring down our shamefully high unemployment rate, the highest in the nation. The time to act is now.
I’m glad to see that there is an increasing public debate here in Imperial Valley about the issue of keeping more tax dollars spent locally. I would agree with Mr. Jon Edney that, while there is likely broad support among elected officials for spending public money locally, that the devil is in the details as in how to define what constitutes a “local” company. However, this is a small matter to resolve.
Many other communities such as the cities of Palm Springs and Los Angeles have come up with their own definitions of how to define a local company. We can, too. The Imperial Valley Independent Business Alliance, for which I am the president, believes that for purposes of government spending the definition should be focused on truly local companies (i.e., our homegrown companies that are headquartered in Imperial County). The reason for this is that it offers the highest return on investment due to the multiplier effect. Other organizations such as the Joint Chambers of Commerce would hold that any firm with a local physical presence be included in a definition of local.
At the end of the day it is up to our elected officials and each of their respective bodies to decide what definition they are comfortable with. The Imperial Irrigation District, for example, already gives a 5 percent bid preference to any firm that has a physical presence in its service area. Kudos to it. With roughly 40 percent of our local economy being in the public sector, it is important that we come together to take action to keep more of this public money in our local economy. Our elected officials need to understand what a huge opportunity this is to stimulate our economy and bring down our shamefully high unemployment rate, the highest in the nation. The time to act is now.
