Hats off to the area chambers of commerce for partnering with The Southern Illinoisan and others for a successful "Shop Southern Illinois" promotion during the recent holidays. The effort called attention to the diverse spectrum of local goods and services available throughout the region, and provided incentives for shoppers to "buy local."

Now retailers have turned the page on the holiday season and have headed into 2009 with mixed expectations. The cutbacks and failures of some national chains grab the headlines. But for local, independent businesses who have followed their dreams to provide products and services in their local communities, this is also an anxious time, just as it is for countless people who are impacted by the recession.

One way for us to cope during the next few months is to extend to the entire year the holiday spirit of buying locally. The benefits to the local economy of shopping locally are well documented. When we shop at locally-owned businesses, our money is re-circulated over and over and creates more tax revenue for our communities and state. Independent businesses raise the standard of living in our communities because they take their profits and buy products and services from other local businesses, thus creating more and more tax revenues needed for the community to thrive.

More often than not, local businesses provide the base of support for community non-profits, school fundraisers, chambers of commerce, services clubs and our general civic life.

The qualitative contributions of local businesses may be just as important. Local businesses can tailor stock their stores to the needs and desires of the local customers. When a requested item is not in stock, most local businesses owners will go to lengths to find the item, and order it when possible. Therefore, product selection in locally owned stores is both broad and specialized. And it's great to regularly visit a store "where everybody knows your name." When you shop a mom-and-pop store, chances are you'll talk to "mom or pop," and therefore will get the best, most knowledgeable information available.

So here's a call during the coming year. It's a call to entities such as city and county governments, Southern Illinois University, community colleges and public and private schools: Please redouble your efforts in these challenging times to utilize locally owned businesses for goods and services (fortunately, many such entities already have "buy local" policies in place). It's also a call to elected officials to look for new ways to support local businesses which are so vital of our communities.

Further, it's a call to banks and other financial institutions to be as supportive as possible of responsible entrepreneurs and businesses owners. It's a call to business owners themselves to provide the best customer service and product selection possible to represent local businesses well and grow the number of such enterprises. It's also incumbent upon local businesses to practice what they preach, and buy their own goods, services and supplies locally. And finally it's a call to all residents to deliberately consider the importance of local businesses to the well-being of our region, and to "buy local" first.

Let's keep Southern Illinois' rich offering of quality local businesses humming during 2009 and beyond. It's more than a cliché to say we're all in this together.

Samuel and Suzanne Cox are owners of My Favorite Toys at University Mall in Carbondale.