Leatherby's Family Creamery, Scrappily Ever After and Jo-to-Go Deli are all local stores that have closed recently, due ultimately to lack of customers. And these are only the business closures I personally can think of that have occurred in the past six months.

This trend seems ironic because isn't Tooele bigger than ever? Isn't the population still growing at a pretty brisk clip?

Maybe we, as concerned community members, need to remember that the choices we make with our dollars have a huge impact on our community.

Consider a few economic facts. A locally owned business returns about 80 percent of each dollar spent back to the community, according to the Independent Business Alliance. So if you shop downtown, you are supporting business owners, employees, building owners, the electric company, the toilet-paper salesman, and many more people. That doesn't include general community funding through sales, property and other taxes.

But shop at a chain or franchise, and as little as 20 percent of the store's sales go back into the community chest. Remember, that most 'big box' stores get huge tax incentives to build, which lowers the overall amount of money they put back into the community.

By buying from local stores we help our community in a variety of ways. Having more options of where to buy products makes for better choices. And it really helps us maintain our community character.

Think about the recent upsurge in interest in eating locally. When we eat food grown closer to our homes, it's fresher, usually cheaper and tastes great. Think of buying local like eating local -- it is likely to be good and you can feel good about supporting our community.

It does take work to buy locally. May I suggest taking the time to explore not only by literally driving around and looking for new things to try, but even exploring using the yellow pages. The yellow pages in any phone book are a great introduction to a community and what it offers.

The Downtown Alliance is working hard to make the downtown area more enjoyable, easy to access and fun. Do your part. Shop downtown and become a local customer.

Ann Herron is a journalist and former associate professor at Utah State University who lives in Tooele. She can be reached at annherron@comcast.net.