Special Edition ~ December 20, 2011

To my clients, colleagues, and friends, old and new ~
Thank you for your business, your friendship and your goodwill.
May health, happiness and prosperity
Be yours in the coming year.

Happy Holidays!

PEACE AT WORK

We all want Peace on Earth, and the place to start is with what’s closest to us: ourselves, our families, and our places of work, where we spend 60% of our time. The workplace is a great place to practice compassion, kindness, understanding, and patience. We can teach ourselves to minimize making assumptions, hasty judgments, gossip and blaming. If trends and fads can “go viral,” how about peace?

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT YOUR HOMETOWN?

For most of us, that question brings to mind some special places, and usually includes a few businesses that we remember fondly. Most likely, several were small, locally-owned businesses. Some of my most vivid memories are of time spent with high-school friends at McCord’s Candy Shop in Lafayette, Indiana.

THINK LOCAL SHOP LOCAL BUY LOCAL

FOR EVERY DOLLAR SPENT AT A LOCAL BUSINESS, 45 CENTS IS REINVESTED LOCALLY. For every dollar spent at a corporate chain, only 15 cents is reinvested locally. Focusing our economic activity locally creates local jobs and contributes to the health of our own community. Shopping locally and doing business with locally owned companies is a very important act of economic responsibility. It’s something we can do. Our own friends, neighbors and families benefit, and we can play a valuable role in supporting this wonderful place we are fortunate to call home. For more information about local companies and organizations, how you can support local businesses, and the difference it makes, visit the website of GoLocal Sonoma County.