Shop local. Shop local. Shop local. It is a common mantra that we hear each year — especially around Christmas — but are we ignoring the more important questions that should be asked to go along with this effort?

Exactly how much does every dollar spent here impact the local community? Are local government entities doing everything possible to spend their dollars — almost all of which are provided by taxpayers — with local businesses? Are those businesses doing the same when they purchase goods or services? Could more be done to ensure that this is a priority for the entire community?

Leader Publications doesn’t have the answers to these questions, at least not yet, but hopes to provide some in coming days and weeks.

It is a common — and sometimes valid — complaint among local businesses that government entities do not provide a fair opportunity and that out-of-town vendors are sometimes given preferential treatment for no substantial reason.

The entire concept raises a host of questions.

Does each local government entity have a policy or practice in place that encourages employees to prefer local vendors when price is not an issue? This would include public school districts, city, county, townships, soil and water districts, educational cooperatives and public utilities.

Are employees aware of any policy? What is done to make them aware?

Do local businesses feel they are given fair opportunities to compete?

What do local elected officials believe their respective policy is? What do they feel it should be?

Do local governments make an effort to inform local businesses of opportunities to provide services? If so, how?

Statistics show that every dollar spent locally re-circulates eight times within a community — often far more than that — and creates a cycle of reinvestment.

You spend money at a local retailer who hires a resident who shops at the corner grocery that pays taxes to the government that employs more people who do the same.

On and on it goes. There really is no end.

However, without that first step — spending every penny possible right here at home — the entire cycle grinds to a halt. Leader Publications is making a commitment to “shop local” and also to let the community know who else is doing the same.

 Michael Caldwell is the publisher of Leader Publications LLC. He can be reached at (269) 687-7700 or by email at mike.caldwell@leaderpub.com.