What's spent in town, stays in town
Published on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 by Beckye RandallRead More Voices
For everyone who feels helpless in the light of the nationwide financial meltdown, we've found a simple and effective way to contribute to the local recovery. It's called the 3/50 Project.
For the past month or so, our newspaper has been helping to promote a "Buy Local" campaign in conjunction with the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce and the Marysville Globe, Arlington Times and The Herald. Advertising purchased by local businesses pays for part of the space allotted to the consumer awareness program. It's a good start, but we can all do more.
The 3/50 Project is the brainchild of Cinda Baxter, a retail consultant and motivational speaker, blogger and positive thinker. The simple idea is this: Think about which three independent brick-and-mortar businesses you'd miss most if they were gone, then direct $50 of your monthly purchases to those three enterprises.
According to the project's Web site (www.the350project.net), if half the employed U.S. population spent $50 each month in independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. That's a big number.
Baxter insists the project isn't an "all or nothing" effort that insists consumers stop shopping in chains or franchises. Instead, the message is about balance--of the money shoppers currently spend each month, the 3/50 Project suggests they redirect an affordable $50 back to the locally-owned independent businesses that may have been forgotten.
As Baxter explained, "Everyone finally feels there's something they can do. Some little bit of control has been restored to a nation that felt pretty powerless after financial institutions pulled the rug out from under them."
In an article published in the June 30 issue of Wall Street Journal, Douglas Bachtel, a demographer at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., said buy-local campaigns can succeed when customers understand that "dollars stay home" when they support independent companies in their communities.
Which three local businesses are on your list? Make a point to stop in, browse and make a small purchase this month. To borrow from a well-known advertising line, "What's spent in town stays in town."
For the past month or so, our newspaper has been helping to promote a "Buy Local" campaign in conjunction with the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce and the Marysville Globe, Arlington Times and The Herald. Advertising purchased by local businesses pays for part of the space allotted to the consumer awareness program. It's a good start, but we can all do more.
The 3/50 Project is the brainchild of Cinda Baxter, a retail consultant and motivational speaker, blogger and positive thinker. The simple idea is this: Think about which three independent brick-and-mortar businesses you'd miss most if they were gone, then direct $50 of your monthly purchases to those three enterprises.
According to the project's Web site (www.the350project.net), if half the employed U.S. population spent $50 each month in independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more than $42.6 billion in revenue. That's a big number.
Baxter insists the project isn't an "all or nothing" effort that insists consumers stop shopping in chains or franchises. Instead, the message is about balance--of the money shoppers currently spend each month, the 3/50 Project suggests they redirect an affordable $50 back to the locally-owned independent businesses that may have been forgotten.
As Baxter explained, "Everyone finally feels there's something they can do. Some little bit of control has been restored to a nation that felt pretty powerless after financial institutions pulled the rug out from under them."
In an article published in the June 30 issue of Wall Street Journal, Douglas Bachtel, a demographer at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., said buy-local campaigns can succeed when customers understand that "dollars stay home" when they support independent companies in their communities.
Which three local businesses are on your list? Make a point to stop in, browse and make a small purchase this month. To borrow from a well-known advertising line, "What's spent in town stays in town."
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