The Importance of Shopping Local
The “Where are We Wednesdays?” campaign is one year old this month! Every Wednesday, Nancy Chase of Bel-Air Bowl hosts the video which highlights a locally owned business. The video is published on the Belleville Main Street and Greater Belleville Chamber of Commerce Facebook pages, on the Chamber’s YouTube channel, in the Chamber’s Weekly Email Update, and archived on www.BellevilleMainStreet.net. The campaign was developed to promote shopping locally owned small businesses because we know that:
– Every dollar spent at a local independent business leads to a return 3 times more than one spent at a chain.
– Small businesses donate twice as much to local non-profit and events compared to big businesses.
– Local businesses create jobs for other local printers, wholesalers, farmers, and accountants, which help create a community of entrepreneurs.
– Money spent in local stores provides sales tax income to our cities, supporting infrastructure, emergency and safety personnel, parks and recreation, and more.
Over the past year, we found that each post reached between 4,000 and 16,000 individuals, with between 1,000 and 6,000 video views. (the larger numbers are due to people sharing the post….hint hint..)
Our intention is to highlight every Chamber business; however, with over 500 member businesses and only 52 weeks in a year, it will take some time to reach everyone. If you are interested in being highlighted, please contact Alicia Chillemi Slocomb at BMS@BellevlleChamber.org to sign up!
