Buy Local

DID YOU KNOW....

If North Scott residents and businesses shifted $.05 of every $1 they spend back to our local businesses, the impact could be:

Expanded Job Creation: Over 200 NEW jobs in the North Scott Area.
Economic Growth: Potentially create over $6 Million in new North Scott wages
Entrepreneurial Ventures: Inspire the formation of new entrepreneurial ventures
Environmental Protection: Decrease thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions
Enhanced Communities: Revitalize local North Scott communities

When was the last time an online company supported your local school or team?

Why Shift 5% and Buy Locally?

Expanded Job Creation

By shifting only $.05 of every $1 you spend back to North Scott businesses, you could help create over 200 new jobs in the North Scott area.

Benefit from Local Owners’ Expertise

Local business owners and employees often possess a level of expertise and a passion for the products they sell that is unmatched by employees and managers of national chains. They also tend to have a greater interest in getting to know their customers – who are, after all, their neighbors. Simply put, local owners and employees take a special pride in their trade.

Nurture Communities

Help us spread the word by talking to your friends, family, and neighbors about how essential locBusinesses that are owned by people who live in this community are committed to investing in North Scott’s future. Studies have found that locally owned businesses contribute more than twice as much of their revenue to charitable causes as corporate chains do.

Economic Growth

That same $.05 will help generate over $6 million of increased economic activity in North Scott

Environment Protected

Buying within your community reduces the amount of fuel you’re likely to use and decreases thousands of tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

What Can I Do?

Become a Member

We believe the North Scott Buy Local campaign is critical to our community and local economy. Our goal is to make “locally owned” something that both residents and visitors consider when deciding where to shop, eat out, and obtain services. You can help make this campaign a success by becoming a member!

Shift More of Your Own Spending to Locally Owned Businesses

Examine your current purchasing patterns and look for opportunities to direct more of your spending to locally owned businesses. If you are unsure whether a business is locally owned, look for the North Scott Buy Local decal on their window or ask them.

Become a Member

Shift More of Your Own Spending to Locally Owned Businesses

Display Campaign Materials Prominently in Your Business

The more people learn and the more they see and hear the North Scott Buy Local message, the greater the impact of this campaign and the more it will influence purchasing choices. Member businesses are provided with a window decal, a fact sheet, counter top information sheets for customers and permission to use the North Scott Buy Local logo in their own advertising.

Talk to Your Friends, Family, and Neighbors

Help us spread the word by talking to your friends, family, and neighbors about how essential locally owned businesses are to the health of our community and about the many challenges they are now facing. Encourage people to visit our web site to learn more.

Talk to Your Customers

Take the opportunity to talk to your customers about the importance of local businesses and the challenges they face. Encourage people to visit our web site for more information.

Let Businesses Know that the Campaign Makes a Difference

Let local business owners and staff know that you support locally owned businesses. If a local business you visit is not part of North Scott’s Buy Local, please encourage them to join the campaign.

Educate Your Employees

Talk with your employees about the North Scott Buy Local campaign so they will be better equipped to answer customers’ questions and communicate the message.

Recruit Other Locally Owned Business

Please talk with other business owners about this campaign and encourage them to get involved. We depend on you to help us reach every locally owned, independent business in the North Scott area.

Source Goods and Services from Locally Owned Businesses

Examine your list of vendors and look for opportunities to shift your purchasing from non-local to local suppliers.

Spread the Word

Help spread the word by writing letters to newspapers and other local media, mentioning North Scott Buy Local in your newsletter and on your web site (and linking to this site), and encouraging community and non-profit groups you are involved with to include information about North Scott Buy Local in their newsletters and to join the campaign as well.

Give Local

Consider sponsoring and donating to local charities and non-profits, in addition to national and international non-profits you might already support. By donating locally, you and your community will receive many of the same economic and social benefits as when you buy local goods and services.

Q: Why does it matter where I make my purchases?

A: When you spend close to home, more of your money stays within the community. Studies have found that locally owned businesses contribute more than twice as much of their revenue to charitable causes as corporate chains do. These contributions continue to help our citizens and enhance our quality of life.

Q: What are the statistics that back that up?

A: Studies have found that for each $1 spent at a local business, 45 cents is reinvested locally. Spending at companies that have no stores or ties to our community results in little to no local revenue benefit.

Q: What is the Chamber’s goal for the Buy Local, Stay Local, Be Local campaign?

A: As the business association of choice for successful businesses, we hope Chamber members will take part in the Buy, Stay, Be Local program and promote efforts to keep the local economy vibrant. We encourage non-member businesses to look into services we offer to members, such as support with campaigns like this one that can help drive traffic through their doors.

Q: How is shopping local businesses good for my community?

A: Local businesses employ local people and pay taxes that support the local community. Buying goods in your work and home neighborhoods helps keep stores open, retail corridors healthy, builds relationships — and it is convenient. Shopping close to home can reduce pollution created by driving out of the area.

Q: Can you put that into perspective?

A: Certainly. The Chamber commissioned Dave Swenson, an Iowa State University Economics Professor, to do a study on what the impact would be if North Scott businesses and residents shifted 5% of their spending back to the North Scott area. If $.05 of every dollar you spend is brought back to the North Scott area, the impact could be over 200 new jobs and could create over $6 million in new North Scott wages. How is it that shifting just 5% of our spending can have such a big impact? One reason is that locally owned businesses buy more goods and services, like printing and accounting, from other local businesses. More money circulating in the local economy means more jobs.