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Local, Regional Economic Impact
The economic prosperity of a city, state, or country is largely dependent on the amount, and type, of business being conducted there. Jobs, taxes, and corporate purchases all contribute significantly to economic health – and indirectly, to infrastructure, civic institutions, and culture. Economists estimate that, over time, a company’s spending often generates a multiple value six to 10 times that of the original spending. Dow is especially sensitive to how its operations affect the lives of people in the many locations in which it operates around the world. Here again, we sometimes face a very difficult trade-off. We are fully aware of the impact many of our purchases can have on a given local economy; but, as a competitive global enterprise, we have to find a responsible balance between supporting the local economy and actively managing our costs to a minimum.
For certain products this means consolidating purchases and buying in great volume independent of the location of the supplier. However, there are other products and services that by their very nature will be bought locally, such as contract labor and certain maintenance activities.
Dow’s local purchasing department works closely with local suppliers to educate them about our strategic purchasing requirements and to help them understand the needs and the potential actions for their businesses which will help them to be globally competitive.
In order to better understand our local economic "footprint" we regularly review data on these topics:
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