I live in a small midwest market, and all the landscaping companies are locally owned and awful.

PE bought two of them, combined them into one, and now they, at about the same cost, do what they say they are going to do, answer the phone, hire competent people, and do a good job.

Likewise, PE has bought up most of the local plumbing and HVAC, and that's been a bit of a bummer, and gotten more expensive, but if you need someone right now, they are there (and answer the phone, etc), as opposed to the local concern who may be on vacation and can get back to you in 2 weeks.

There are some really good local small businesses/trades people, but like the 1950s, in a lot of aspects they are overly romanticized.