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| 4/28/2009 6:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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Photo courtewsy of Scott D.W. Smith
Jimbo Buickerood, left, of Mancos, browses recently inside Maria’s Bookshop, which is located on Main Avenue in Durango. The book store is part of La Plata County’s Buy Local organization, called LOCAL, or La Plata Organizations Cooperatively Advocating Local. |
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LOCAL program promotes community business
La Plata County rallies with buy-local group
Steve Grazier
Journal Staff Writer
The closest active Buy Local movement to Cortez is located about 45 miles east in La Plata County.
LOCAL, or La Plata Organizations Cooperatively Advocating Local, was launched about two years ago by a number of La Plata County businesses and nonprofit organizations. Today, the group has nearly 140 active participating establishments working together to encourage people to purchase local goods and services via a Look Local First campaign.
"Our goal is keeping money circulating in the (La Plata) county as much as possible," said Marcus Renner, a coordinator and weekly meeting facilitator of LOCAL. "We've worked hard to make this work, and we think that it is."
LOCAL organizers believe keeping dollars flowing in the county can help businesses and their customers "ride the rapids of a turbulent national economy," according to the group's Web site, www.laplatalocal.org. The goal of the campaign is to keep local dollars flowing in La Plata County by taking advantage of the multiplier effect that translates dollars spent into additional purchases, creating more jobs, raising wages and generating additional sales-tax revenue for community services.
A multiplier effect is a situation in which an increase in spending produces an increase of income and consumption greater than the initial amount spent.
La Plata County's overall Buy Local movement is a collaborative effort of the Durango Chamber of Commerce, Durango city councilors and local independent business owners, Renner said.
A chamber of commerce initiated radio-advertising campaign targets the promotion of "Buck," an animated dollar-bill mascot that aims to "keep bucks in town," Renner said.
"We've got cardboard cutouts and a costume (mascot) of 'Buck' to participate in area events and parades," Renner said.
The city of Durango's efforts concentrate more on keeping dollars in town, while businesses are out to further promote locally-owned, mom-and-pop shops, Renner said.
Business owners in Durango are looking to eventually form an independent business association, Renner said. City councilors often hold contests among each other to see who can spend the most locally, he added.
Renner, who works as coordinator of the Fort Lewis College Environmental Center, suggested there are hurdles to overcome when starting out with a new Buy Local organization.
"The challenge has been that it's all volunteer," he said. "We're progressing well in our second year of programming."
Peter Schertz, co-owner of Maria's Bookshop in Durango, said LOCAL is a group in transition.
"We're a group in formation hoping to get more organized," Schertz said. "We believe that supporting local business is an integral part of a successful community."
Schertz is one of the business owners who helped organize the LOCAL group in Durango. He said trade shows and independent book-store conventions over the years hammered home the notion of encouraging people to buy local.
"They (shows) helped me recognize the responsibility we have as a store to participate in the movement," Schertz said.
As an independent book store, Maria's buy books for individual customers and accepts personal requests, while larger, chain book-store companies have a general selection of books that are available nationwide, Schertz said. Maria's Bookshop is located at 960 Main Ave., Durango.
"We're lucky in that we're not plagued with a number of chain stores around here," he said.
In addition to Maria's, a half dozen other Durango-area businesses engaged in LOCAL include Carver's Brewing Co., the Animas Trading Co., Brainstorm Internet, the Cyprus Cafe, Durango Coffee Co. and the 6th Street Hair Salon & Day Spa.
The LOCAL group has engaged in cooperative advertising among independent businesses and hopes to put together a board of directors, Schertz said. A "Be Local" coupon book was circulated in Durango shops and agencies to encourage people to purchase items at in-town shops and remind them about the advantages or being involved with community events by volunteering.
"It's about trying to get people to think local and raise awareness," said Schertz, who noted that the LOCAL group is considering coming up with a catchier name.
Schertz suggested that cities with buy-local organizations have had less of an economic downturn than municipalities that do not.
For more information about Durango's Buy Local effort, contact Renner at 247-7091 or Jack Llewellyn at 247-0312.
On the Net: La Plata Organizations Cooperatively Advocating Local, www.laplatalocal. org; Maria's Bookshop, www.mariasbookshop.com.
The Journal welcomes input on "Buy Local" coverage. If you have a story idea, want to comment on the coverage, are working on a buy-local project, or would like to write a column about buy-local issues, contact the Journal's managing editor, Russell Smyth, at russells@ cortezjournal.com or 565-8527, ext. 300.
Reach Steve Grazier at steveg@cortezjournal.com.
The "Buy Local" series is a public service project designed to provide information that could benefit Montezuma County's economy and to promote public dialogue about buy-local issues. Coverage will include some profiles of buy-local programs in other communities. Watch for "Buy Local" stories in Tuesday editions of the Cortez Journal.
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