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Common Sense Solutions - Starting Now

Local Business Campaigns

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Local: The Good Buzzword

"THINK LOCAL: An ongoing campaign to help connect the dots between you, your money, our economy and community."

This is a slick marketing campaign, yes, but a very important and constructive one. The Seattle Good Business Network is a new non- profit with a "vision for a sustainable economy rooted in local ownership, a healthy environment and strong community."

We're seeing this kind of campaign everywhere - and that's great! As people care more about supporting local everything, businesses are branding themselves as local. The campaigns offer signs and stickers you can proudly display in your shop window. These businesses make a point of sourcing local goods.

In this Think Local Seattle campaign, they are even encouraging people to put their money in local banks and credit unions "where fewer financial risks are taken and your deposits create more capital for local businesses and residents."

It is said that out of $100 spent in a local store, for example a book store, that $45 stays and circulates in the community whereas only $13 stays if you shop at a big box retailer.

This may seem like a small step, and often not the most convenient or inexpensive one. We can't all afford the boutiques in hip downtown areas. But of all the people predicting challenging times ahead, from all over the map - they agree on one thing: that strong, self sufficient, locally reliant communities are the most likely to survive and prosper.

So put this message to use in your community in whatever ways, small or large, that make sense for you.

--Bibi Farber

For more information, visit: www.thinklocalseattle.org