The idea of shopping locally is an important one _ not just when it’s time for the annual Christmas gift-giving onslaught, but all year long.

Trying to maximize the number of dollars which remain in Otsego County is the right approach, for a number of reasons.

It stimulates the local economy. Those dollars travel through the economy and pass in and out of the hands of your friends and neighbors and, eventually, back through your hands. There is a multiplier effect, and the more times those dollars are spent and re-spent locally, the higher the multiplier.

The multiplier effect was how those milk dollars generated by dairy farmers were always so important in driving the local economy. Studies indicated that each dollar the farmer spent in town was re-spent in town seven times.

Local purchasing also generates sales tax revenue. It may not sound like much more than pocket change, but it adds up in a hurry. Cross the county line and that money is lost.

It’s even environmentally responsible. Travel fewer miles, burn less fuel.

Most importantly, it makes you a part of the solution.

If we want a robust, sustainable local economy, it is up to each of us to do our part to create it. The cure for a lagging or stagnant economy will not emanate from Albany or Washington, and we shouldn’t be sitting around waiting for the next economic development package to come down the pike.

We need to apply some self-determination to the situation. We must look for solutions of our own and put them into practice. We have the power in our wallets to make substantive change in our local economy.

Even the most cursory examination of the effects of shopping locally would reveal numerous benefits. A full-scale analysis of what happens as those dollars circulate repeatedly would make so compelling a case for shopping locally that no one could deny it.

Buying locally is a simple concept that can have a far-reaching impact. It requires no start-up capital, no state or federal grants, no staff or office space _ just a healthy dose of common sense applied to your purchasing decisions.

This holiday season do your part by shopping close to home with your neighbors.