What can a 16-inch pancake do for Springfield? Plenty, said a recently formed Springfield nonprofit group last week, explaining that the unique products sold by independent businesses inject color, character and money into the local economy at a time when it needs it badly.

During a July 1 press conference at Charlie Parker’s Diner (home of the 16-inch pancake), Capital Area Independent Business Alliance members kicked off Independents Week, a nationwide celebration of the independent businesses that are the backbone of local economies across the nation.

As lunch crowd stragglers finished their meals, and Charlie Parker’s staff delivered food and bused tables, the 96-seat quonset hut diner seemed an appropriate venue to tout the advantages and wonders of local independent businesses. More than 25 CAIBA members wearing colorful T-shirt’s with the group’s logo stood outside the perimeter of TV cameras in the middle of the diner, surrounded by retro rock ’n roll memorabilia on the walls.

Sangamon County Board member Rosemarie Long and Springfield Mayor Tim Davlin were on hand to officially proclaim July 1-7 “Independents Week” in the county and city. The city’s proclamation outlined the benefits of independent businesses to the community, saluted them as “integral to the unique flavor of Springfield …” and honored “their efforts to make Springfield a place we want to live and work.” “When people talk about giving back to the community, supporting local independent businesses is one way to do it,” Davlin said. “It’s unbelievable that when you spend $100 in a restaurant, how much comes back to the community?” He answered: “Forty-five dollars if it’s local, thirteen dollars if it’s a national chain.”

The mayor also talked about the afore mentioned, unusually large breakfast item. “Where else are you going to find a pancake the size of a pizza if you don’t come to Charlie Parker’s?” Davlin asked.

Mike Murphy, owner of Charlie Parker’s, said each of his diner’s 16-inch pancakes contains 24 ounces of batter. “We even have a competition: If you can eat four of them, they’re free. It’s only happened once since 1991 and that was about five weeks ago. It’s really next to impossible. We have to flip it with a pizza peel, that big flat thing they take pizzas out of the oven with.” Another perk of an independent business? Access to the owner. “People make menu suggestions, and sometimes I add them,” said Murphy. “A guy suggested whole-grain pancakes.

So I put them on the menu, and named them after him.” A member of CAIBA’s steering committee, Murphy said he is a firm believer that if you buy local, you are making a larger positive impact on the local economy than you would buying from a national chain store.

He offered this example: “We just made our first television commercial, and I used a local production company. When the national guys do their commercials, no local person benefits from the production of them. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but we spent it locally. Now he can go in turn and buy whatever he can locally. Buying local compounds the benefit.”

Murphy said CAIBA wants to help consumers make an educated choice when it comes to spending money. “I want to make it known to consumers that shopping local is a viable option and there are benefits to dealing with us — benefits to consumers, to their neighborhoods, to their community.”

According to Stu Kainste, manager of Food Fantasies, the natural foods store, the advantages to buying from an independent

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