I love everything about Buffalo and am thrilled to be part of an organization whose sole purpose is to make our wonderful community even better. When I first heard about Buffalo First, I was ecstatic to discover that we had a "local first" initiative. However, as I learned more about the organization's mission, my commitment deepened. It was much like my relationship with the Queen City; the more I learned, the more I loved.

The reach of Buffalo First goes beyond simply advocating for local independents. We educate members of our community on the importance of having a locally focused economy which prioritizes people and the environment, in addition to profits. When you combine these ideals a transformation takes place. The result is a truly vibrant, productive and sustainable Buffalo.

What have you done to advocate for a local, green and fair community in Buffalo?

From both a professional and personal perspective I have made a commitment to educate myself and others on how to live sustainably. As an educator within the UB Green Office I have been actively involved in the greening of UB, and have promoted many causes ranging from recycling and composting, to green building design and support of local foods. However, the most rewarding of my professional activities includes discussing ideas regarding sustainability with members of the campus and the greater Buffalo community. Empowering others with the information necessary to make the connections between people, the planet and profits is my most rewarding accomplishment.

Within my personal life I am committed to creating positive change within Buffalo. Whether it be through my work with organizations like Buffalo First, or my membership within one of our local community supported agriculture programs my intent is to broaden my individual impact by working with others to have a greater influence. We cast a vote for our beliefs not only with each dollar we spend, but also with each action we take.

What do you plan to contribute to Buffalo First in the coming year?

I plan to continue assisting Buffalo First develop as an organization and as a resource for the Buffalo community. One of the most important roles for Buffalo First is to educate the community regarding the importance of supporting local and independent businesses. In helping to create an educated consumer base, Buffalo First can better promote the needs of local businesses. I also plan to assist Buffalo First in providing resources to our members which will allow them to become more sustainable in their operations and practices.

Throughout history and around the globe, commerce defines and evolves cultures and communities. Today's buy independent, buy local renaissance demands a return to relationships and a human-scale economy capable of genuinely reflecting and responding to the unique character, values and needs of our cities and selves as individuals within a global context.

For more than fifty years, my family business has enjoyed the support of the community, and has continued to grow as a result. As the third-generation proprietor of Battin Eye Care, I am deeply committed to the ‘Buy Local’ initiative and to supporting the unique businesses that make Buffalo great.

There is something special about living in the Greater Buffalo metropolitan area. It is a great place to raise a family and overall, I feel that Buffalo is one of the best areas to call home in the country. I am convinced that the biggest single factor that contributes to this is the strong, open and welcoming community. We have the strong ties of a small town and the openness of a large city. Part of this special quality is embedded in the presence of local businesses that are a touch point for our community. Local merchants support local community in a way that national businesses just can’t do. Local shops provide community gathering places that you don’t find in the cookie cutter chain stores. Our local restaurants provide food with personality, not out-of-the-box food that is the same all across the country.

I have been to communities that have lost all the local businesses and in their place are strip malls full of national chains near big box stores; the surrounding community has lost all sense of identity. If it weren’t for the city's signs, it could almost appear to be "Anywhere, USA". Our community has had a mixed blessing of having not grown parallel to other areas in the country; part of that blessing is that we have not demolished local gems before coming to realize their value. I wholly support Buffalo First, their mission is one that everyone who values this community ought to support. There is nowhere else like Buffalo and if you hold this value like I do, support Buffalo First!

When a local economy has the direct participation of its citizens, it is able to do more than simply support local businesses and producers – it supports the wellbeing of every person in the area by providing the things that really matter, things like clean air and water, nutritious food, comfortable housing, safe neighborhoods, meaningful employment at a decent wage, quality education, arts and entertainment, adequate public infrastructure, public recreation…the list goes on and on.

Our journey to a local economy starts with an awareness of locally owned businesses. It progresses with active participation by all of its citizens. Each person, in addition to the role of consumer or business owner (hopefully both!) plays the role active participant by staying informed on the issues in their community, such as urban food systems, neighborhood revitalization, renewable energy, waterfront development, zoning and land use, local codes and legislations, and use of government money. All these issues have a great impact on the health and vitality of our local economy, and active participants can help improve and maintain the different aspects of these issues. Average people making thoughtful decisions and thoughtful actions can create a stable and vibrant economy that serves everyone in it.

Buffalo First as an organization will also be progressing past our first steps. We support B-Labs’ work in developing tools for businesses to measure their environmental and social impact. We will be working with partners throughout New York State to pass legislation allowing for the creation of a new type of corporation, a Benefit Corporation or B-Corp, which will be accountable to a triple bottom line: environmental sustainability, social benefits and monetary profit. We are forming partnerships with other local non-profit groups and building our citizen membership base, steps that will enable Buffalo First to be a focal point for education and grassroots action. Our ultimate goal is to provide the guidance and resources for building an economy that is local, sustainable and just. While we will continue to help folks take their own first steps by being a source of information on locally owned businesses, we encourage everyone to become a member of Buffalo First and an active participant in the Western New York economy!

Kelly Maurer
Board Chair, Buffalo First

Jonathon Welch came from the upper Midwest to graduate school at SUNY-Buffalo, took a leave of absence from his studies in 1975 to join a cohort of fellow book junkies in founding what has become Talking Leaves...Books, Buffalo's oldest independent bookstore, and ended up falling into his life work. Raised in a small town, he's always been very attentive to the essential connection between small local businesses and community, committed to the survival of both.

Nationally, independent bookstores have been at the forefront of efforts to organize and educate around this issue and the perils we face in a monocultural, disconnected world. The existence, and work, of Buffalo First is exciting because it brings people together in our community in a concerted way to address and redress the limitations of our current economy, and to celebrate and strengthen the truly fundamental and necessary local living economy.

For most of the history of Talking Leaves...Books in Buffalo, the unending story has been of closing businesses, eroding population and tax base, declining services. But there's been another, equally significant constant over that same period--locally based small businesses, arts organizations, community-based non- profits, growing and surviving, creating jobs, keeping people here, paying taxes, building community, forging a unique identity for and pride in this special place. Buffalo First is the blooming flower that highlights the challenged but vital roots that have sustained our economy and community in the shadow of that more ostentatious and precipitous decline. And it's also the fertilizer that will improve the soil, strengthen the roots, and encourage fuller and more beautiful blooms.

What have you done to advocate for a local, green and fair community in Buffalo?

I've been active on the board of Buffalo First for the past three years. Talking Leaves has been stressing the value and importance of shopping locally for the past 20 years, in ads and promotions. We also source almost all of our supplies from local vendors. We have been avid recyclers for years--we reuse all paper until both sides are covered, then recycle the waste. With volunteers we staffed a table and sold books touting the value of the local food economy last summer at the Elmwood Village Farmers' Market. Talking Leaves is an active member of the American Booksellers Association, which has adopted a national initiative called Indiebound that stresses the importance of local businesses to the economic health and well-being of communities.

What do you plan to contribute to Buffalo First in the coming year?

I plan to remain active on the board and as a member of Buffalo First, and as a member of the American Booksellers Association. I will, personally and through Talking Leaves...Books, do whatever I can do to support this idea and grow Buffalo First and keep Buffalo the unique place that it is.

Reduce your carbon footprint. Be local, buy local, support your community.

Sustainability is a crucial component to both long term health and growth. Being a native of Buffalo, it wasn't until I moved away for college that I understood the unique sense of community, collaboration and progressive thinking that defines New York state's queen city.

I believe that there is no better place than Buffalo to help showcase the epitome of what it means to 'buy local' and how it not only supports the community but creates a robust local living ecosystem.