Local Economy

By Mark Svetz

WILLIMANTIC –January 2009

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The Local Economy: Where it’s At This Year!

While folks argue about whether to “bail out” the so-called auto industry, or which banks deserve getting Uncle Sam as a silent partner in their madness, I just want to say how proud I am to be part of a surprisingly vibrant local economy. And to thank the Quiet Corner for another year!

At Clothworks, Sarah and I just finished our second year in the storefront. We opened our doors on the day after Halloween, in 2006, crossing our fingers after putting our “life savings” down as a security deposit on this space I have come to love.

Two years later, we are still having fun and making the rent for another holiday season. Mostly, we get by because we live very simple lives. It is astonishing how “simple” our lives have gotten.

Additionally, we just finished a truly wonderful season at the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market. We set up there every Sunday, from June 1 right through October. Boy! Did we have fun!

I also hear great reports from Ashford, Storrs and other markets in the area. I believe they are going to become a central institution in our lives.

The Willimantic Food Co-op is also doing well, by all reports. The Co-op has experienced pretty incredible growth in the last few years, and I think one of the most exciting things about the Co-op is the outlet it provides for so many local agricultural products.

The Co-op and the Farmers’ Markets show us, perhaps, how strong that aspect of the local economy is. It gives me a little hope for the future.

I guess I believe the local economy is where it’s at in this global turmoil. They can squander billions on failing financial institutions, while we build a solid base of goods and services, locally produced and sold.

It seems to me transportation is going to be a huge issue in all of this. It only makes sense for us to make things here, in our own back yard, rather than ship finished goods all around the world. In many cases we could even use raw materials that are grown and raised locally, if we really get serious about this.

It is my dream to make a shirt from industrial hemp fiber grown right here in Eastern Connecticut. That is a whole industry from farming and harvesting, to spinning, weaving and sewing. And it can be sold in Willimantic, or anywhere. That’s also a lot of jobs right here. No commute.

Even if the global economy somehow manages to hold itself together, we will have built a great local economy where we can all have jobs nearby, eat food grown locally, enjoy a full ranges of products we can buy from our neighbors, who in turn will provide jobs with a future for our children.

I wish I had a blueprint for how it’s all going to fall into place. I don’t. But I am convinced that it starts with centering our lives in our own communities: living, working and shopping locally.

We may be closer than we think. It was great to read that somebody in Windham wants the town to develop business plans for some small retail or manufacturing businesses. Former Windham Board of Finance member Harry Carboni said the town could advertise for proposals from people who would start up these businesses, and then give them some support to get established.

This sounds like such a great way for our community to pull our economy up by our bootstraps. This would more than revitalize our downtown. It is a way for us to create not just jobs, but careers, for several generations.

As money gets harder and harder to come by, it just makes sense to keep as much as we can right here in Willimantic. We can do that by creating local businesses, especially if they can localize an industry from field to store shelf, in a manner of speaking.

I remember some years ago, Sarah and I were riding our bicycles in British Columbia and we met an out-of-work logger. We all talked about the state of the world. This logger spoke passionately about the logging industry and how they send whole trees to Japan, where they are made in to picnic tables. He told us we could go down to the docks and watch the trees go out and the picnic tables come back.

Meanwhile, loggers are unemployed because of all the equipment that replaces people in the woods. This man thought he and his neighbors could actually cut fewer trees, make their own products, and start earning a living with their own resources.

That’s what I’m talking about with the hemp industry! We are fortunate to have a lot of local farmers around here. Many of them use organic farming principles, which means they use less fossil fuels. So we have the beginnings of a sustainable industry here. Maybe several industries.

This year, as I celebrate around the New Year, I am going to be wishing for some new businesses that can sustainably use our natural resources as a source of wealth and prosperity for our communities. There are many ways to work with the Earth to make good lives for our neighbors and ourselves.

So, for 2009 and every year: Let’s make it and keep it local!

Mark Svetz and Sarah Winter own Clothworks, a shop on Church Street in Downtown Willimantic, where they make and sell clothing and bags. If anyone wants to start growing Industrial Hemp, they can make it into clothing!

And all this is right smack in the middle of this recession. Or is it a depression? The thing is, many people are choosing to buy local this year. I can’t speak for anyone else, but Sarah and I are satisfied and grateful with the confidence our customers have shown in us this season.

Harvesting Hemp 1957

Hand Plying Hemp Rope Ukraine, WWII

Farmers Markets in Connecticut