Sustainable Blairstown

BLAIRSTOWN, NJ (Nov. 9, 2009) – The Sustainable Blairstown Committee is challenging residents to “make their purchases count” this holiday season by making at least two purchases with local businesses between Thanksgiving and New Years. Shoppers should look to sign a “Thank You” booster slip at participating businesses that will then display the slips in appreciation. The buy local challenge is part of the Committee’s program to qualify for the Sustainable Jersey Municipal Certification.

Buy Local Slips will be Available for Participating Businesses

“Everyone wants to live in a bustling and vibrant community with nice stores and strong property values,” said committee chair Kevin Doell. “This requires an investment and commitment on the part of the residents to shop locally so that our community’s businesses stay healthy.”

The Sustainable Blairstown Committee chose to initiate a buy local campaign this year because of the opportunity to make an important economic contribution. Locally owned businesses buy more goods and services from other local businesses. Studies show that local businesses spend a much larger share of their revenue (two to three times as much on average) in the local area as national chains and online retailers do. More money circulating in the local economy means more jobs.

To raise awareness about local shopping possibilities, the Committee is also developing an online business directory at www.sustainableblairstown.org. The directory is searchable by category and keyword. All local businesses are invited to visit the site and add their listing for free along with a description of the business or service and possible gift ideas. Some of the businesses already listed include The Cupcake Factory, Gallery 23, Brook Hollow Winery, the Twice Upon a Time Shop and others. In the coming weeks, the Committee will begin circulating a list of creative, local gift ideas on the blog. Residents are invited to comment on the site’s pages with their own gift ideas.

“We’re looking forward to participating in the buy local campaign,” said Sharon Almassy, owner of The Twice Upon a Time Shop, whose spouse started Cole’s BBQ in June. “Our family is actually running two new businesses and we really appreciate the efforts of Sustainable Blairstown to raise awareness of this important issue. I find that my customers are always surprised at what is available right here in town. I tell them to look local first before taking that 30-minute drive.”

To learn more about Sustainable Blairstown, sign up for the group’s email newsletter at  www.sustainableblairstown.org. You can also attend the group’s 4th Wednesday meetings each month at 7:30 p.m. at Givens Belet American Legion VFW Post. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, this month’s meeting will be held on Nov. 18. If you would like to have a Sustainable Blairstown representative address your organization, please contact Kevin Doell at 908-459-5484.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Buy Local, Local Economy, Projects, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.