Jackson Free Press

When I was in my late teens, my group of friends and I would frequent Fondren. We'd spend hours at Cups Espresso Cafe, just sitting, talking and drinking coffee. I once tried to get my photography shown at Swell-o-Phonic when Chane had the Icon Gallery there. Hell, I still have a t-shirt from back then.

Swell was our place to hang out. I'd often spend afternoons there, watching as kids and teens skated on small ramps. Sometimes my friend's band would play on the small stage out back, and I'd stand amid 30 to 50 people, trying to get the best photo possible.

We also loved going to Fondren Beverage Emporium. The shop had the best candy selection in town, and that's where I first discovered Ramune soda (you know, the one with the marble in the cap). I still remember when Sneaky Beans was New Vibrations before Karen Parker went to help run Fair Trade Green in Rainbow Plaza, and where The Orange Peel was before it moved and Mulberry Dreams took its place. I remember Fondren Corner as this space barely anyone occupied, but it was always the coolest building to me, at least on the exterior. And the Pix/Capri Theater, even in its condition, was my favorite place to go. That was one of the first places that really sparked my interest in photography.

But it wasn't just Fondren. I ushered in my 18th birthday at WC Don's before Martin's Restaurant & Lounge took over that space. I remember spending so many nights there listening to my friends' bands. Often, I stood so close to the speakers that my doctor told me that if I didn't stop going to shows, I'd lose my hearing by 30 (at this point, I'm only four years away). A couple of weeks ago, I had parked my car in midtown, and walked by a building that I realized was once a concert venue I frequented.

To this day, I'm still amazed at how much I went into Jackson without actually looking at my surroundings. But if you asked me then if I knew what shopping local meant, I'd probably have looked at you funny. It's not something many young people think about, and in creating this issue, that was a concept that many of the interns, understandably, had a hard time grasping. Local business is not really something a lot of young people worry about. I know I didn't. I just knew what I liked to buy and where I liked to go, and that Jackson had so much interesting stuff.

As a publication, the Jackson Free Press has pushed the idea of shopping local in its almost 13 years of existence. We pride ourselves on being local—shopping local, dining local, hanging out local. But what exactly does that look like?

Oxford Dictionaries defines local "a local person or thing" (noun) or "belonging or relating to a particular area or neighborhood, typically exclusively so" (adjective). Urban Dictionary defines locals as "prominent people who have lived in an area for an extended period of time."

Just call them "locavores." They're people like Chane, Steve Long, Kristen Ley, Phillip Rollins, the Meekses, the McDades—that is, the people with local stores and restaurants you may love to frequent. Just for amusement's sake, on urbandictionary.com, the top entry for the word local is "your local neighborhood pub." You can find those in many places in Jackson, from Fondren Public to Fenian's Pub in Belhaven to Hal & Mal's downtown. Even Rankin County has Bonny Blair's Irish Pub in Brandon. Believe Urban Dictionary: You're shopping local when you drink local.

Forbes magazine reports that small business owners make up more than 50 percent of the current job population in the United States. The advancement of technology has made it really easy to start small businesses without having to spend a whole bunch of money.

So yes, local Etsy stores count because they contribute to the economy of one local person, who in turn may choose to invest that money into the community. From 1996 to early 2014, small businesses had generated 65 percent of new jobs in the country. As of 2014, more than 540,000 new businesses were being started each month.

As Publisher Todd Stauffer has frequently said in various publisher's notes, locally owned business contributes $48 or more to the local economy of every $100 spent. So if you spend more money locally, those businesses may in turn hire and buy locally. It brings the money right where it should be—right here. And that helps the city at large because the more money spent in the community, the more money is invested.

The better our infrastructure, our roads, maybe even our schools. The more people get to create organizations that help local kids stay out of trouble. It all leads to one common goal: investing in and bettering our community. And who can really say that's a bad thing?

This issue contains articles that highlight local businesses and organizations, from restaurants to thrift stores to churches to everything in between. Each owner is a person you should get to know, and probably will run into once or twice (Jackson is a small town, you know).

Local business is how you get the true feel of the city because they're made up with local people—your friends, neighbors, and everyone in between.

Visit bestofjackson.com for many local options.