This week, health insurer HCF will close its Griffith office.
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It will force hundreds of customers around the Riverina, forced to travel to Wagga for the pleasure of being able to speak to someone in person.
Not that long ago, Medibank Private, did the same thing in Wagga and closed its office which was located in the Marketplace shopping centre.
Wagga’s Medibank Private customers have to travel to Albury, Canberra or beyond. It’s a journey that Griffith’s Medibank customers were forced to do after the office in this city closed down too.
Many health insurers are private businesses and HCF, while a not-for-profit organisation, it still has to be a sustainable business.
MIA resident Carl Chirgwin makes a compelling point.
“I think we all need to make more of an effort to be getting our boots in the door of businesses to show our support and to show these services are needed and necessary,” he says in Monday’s Area News.
In this era of ease when it comes to digital business – it’s even more essential that we support the businesses that are in Griffith, Yenda, Yoogali or Hanwood and our many other smaller towns.
Whether the businesses are selling fruit or furniture – Griffith’s future depends on people backing their community’s business.
There’s of course an argument that some of the businesses in our city aren’t exactly all owned locally – Woolies, Coles and Aldi, are three prime examples.
There’s also franchised businesses like McDonald’s or Zambreros – or local agents for international companies like Leo Franco’s Holden dealership.
Even The Area News is owned by Fairfax Media, which like HCF is based in Sydney.
But the important part of all of this?
The businesses which operate in this town all employ local workers – whether it’s the teenagers getting their first job at a fast food joint, or a tradie who’s started work at a hardware store.
The people still live in our community and shop locally – we need to back ourselves and our businesses to ensure they can continue to provide us with products and services.
It might mean that we have to take a little extra time but it’s not just about 10 minutes driving in the car, it’s about doing our part to support them rather than take the easy way out and jump online.
Coming up to Christmas, there’s plenty of locally-owned retailers who’d welcome that extra bit of support.