Chambers Urge Consumers to Buy Local

Originally posted October 12, 2012

News Release

Inspired by Times Publisher Bill Masterson and his One Region initiative, 17 local chambers of commerce have collaborated on a campaign to encourage shoppers in Northwest Indiana to think, and Buy Local instead of hitting the internet to do their shopping.

Local businesses create jobs, and statistics show that for every $100 dollars spent in local shops, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and miscellaneous expenditures.

Conversely, if you spend $100 dollars online, nothing comes home. Nada, zip, nothing! No taxes, no payroll, nothing.

Chambers of commerce have always encouraged buying local products, but we have generally done so on a community by community basis. When approached with the idea to collaborate with all of our local chambers, chamber executives jumped at the opportunity.

Well, I should say, the chambers at first hopped at the opportunity, as the price tag for such a promotion was in the five figure range, and chamber budgets have also been impacted by the slower than planned economy.

But in the spirit of cooperation, and seeing a real opportunity for our chambers to help promote our members, we eventually managed to secure funding from 17 chambers of commerce, and the Buy Local Campaign became a reality in September.

Chamber members will receive “Buy Local” in-store promotional pieces, as well as have their business names listed on the "Buy Local” website at no charge. Additionally, chamber members are eligible to participate in other exclusive advertising packages that maximize exposure for their business.

The Buy Local program will run for 26 weeks, and local advertisements for the campaign will run concurrently in The Times and also at www.nwi.com.

A few years ago, the mere idea of 17 chambers of commerce in Northwest Indiana getting together in one location, let alone working together on a joint project, was unheard of.

Today, after working together on the One Region, One Vision initiative created by Bill Masterson, our chambers of commerce meet regularly to discuss topics that impact our chamber members, and issues that we can debate and bring to the attention of our thousands of chamber businesses throughout Northwest Indiana.

The “Buy Local” initiative is a good one, and your participation is critical to making it a rousing success over the next several months.

Source: Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce