Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend an open house sponsored by the Ann Arbor & Ypsilan
ti Area Chamber of Commerce (thanks, Chamber) at Zingermans. (www.zingermans.com)
Zingermans is an Ann Arbor-area business that has been intentional about being authentically local. But this local brand has also opened up its business model so that it can touch the full world of its customers. It has accomplished this by starting new concepts around the Zingerman's quality food approach. By keeping these businesses local, it has created something uniquely authentic while expanding reach through mail order and internet sales.
The open house took us to 7 stations that represented some of Zingerman’s current family of businesses: the Bakehouse, BAKE! with Zing, the Creamery, Catering, Mail Order, Coffee Company and Zing Train (a training business). At each station you felt the same enthusiasm and heard the same message from the people who were working in the different businesses--"we love it here because we’re working with great people, living out a terrific company culture, working on exciting business ideas"--and each of them had a goal to provide unsurpassed service and quality food products to its customers. It’s a winning combination. And it’s infectious. As a customer you leave feeling energized by the experience and renewed in your loyalty to the Zingerman's brand. For many of us residents of Washtenaw County, it has become “our Zingermans.” 
The "local" theme connected to another conversation I had when I met a new colleague in our industry of marketing communications. He hails from Kentucky. I asked him if he knew Wendell Berry and he said, "definitely." Besides Zingermans, perhaps the advocate for local business initiatives that has had the greatest impact on me recently is writer, philosopher and farmer, Wendell Berry. (http://brtom.typepad.com/wberry/). For many in the local food movement he is a household name. From his Kentucky farm, he has written about the need to nurture the local community through stewardship of the land and relationships built on local food production and distribution.
So this week, when our executive team was wrestling with our own growth strategy as an integrated marketing communications agency and weighing what risk reward we should undertake, we referenced this concept—local jobs for local strategic artists. It is a worthy endeavor. Because when we as strategic artists at MOVE—those who by creativity and common sense generate income—can employ others of a similar gifting, we can join together with to build and enrich the larger community.
For all of you business leaders who are asking yourselves (especially in these economically challenging times) why you’re doing this—perhaps local jobs to enrich the local community will be a compelling reason for you. And for you workers—consider staying local (especially after you’ve done New York, L.A. and Shanghai) and help build a life locally that, through its richness of spirit and excellence of product, can still have impact globally. See you in the neighborhood.