Nov 3, 2009 1:58 pm US/Eastern
Local Alliance Bands Md. Small Businesses Together
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ―
Marketing experts fling around the buzzword "sustainability" in a jumble of other terms used to describe the more socially conscious direction many businesses are headed these days.
The American Marketing Association and Fleishman-Hillard Inc., released a study this year that found, despite the recession, 58 percent of business owners said they'd be focusing greater attention to sustainability initiatives over the next two to three years.
But what does sustainability mean for local consumers, and why should they care?
The Annapolis Sustainable Business Alliance, a group of about 35 member businesses perhaps better known by the name of its perennial project Buy Local Annapolis, has a strong point of view on this particular subject. And they've started a campaign through the end of the year involving local shoppers and small independent businesses -- its purpose to demonstrate how to put the buzzword into action.
The project is called Pick 3 Spend 50 Annapolis. The president of the alliance, Craig Sewell, who also is the owner of A Cook's Cafe off Bestgate Road, said participating businesses -- which aren't required to be alliance members -- will encourage customers to pledge $50 of their existing monthly budgets and put it toward local small businesses instead of chains.
Sewell said the idea is not about spending more money, but about getting customers to make conscious choices about supporting the unique retailers, services and eateries that exist in their community.
"We're asking people to think of three brick-and-mortar businesses here that they would really hate to see go away," he said.
The alliance, an affiliate of the national Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, will provide these consumers with a reusable bag that signifies they've enrolled in the program.
Customers will bring the bag with them each time they patronize one of their three selected small businesses.
By the end of the campaign, customers will present their receipts in any participating business and receive an entry form for a drawing of $350 in cash.
Sewell said each business will pay $30 to register. During the campaign, they will then either provide a discount or some other benefit to the customers enrolled. Also, there will be a reward for one of the participating businesses.
The alliance defines "local" as a business whose owner lives within 50 miles of it and makes all the major purchasing and marketing decisions. For food, "local" can include growers slightly farther outside of the area in Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, where many farmers live.
But there's a bigger picture to sustainability, Sewell said, and it deals with both economic and environmental issues.
The number "350" coincides with the global environmental organization called 350.org, which had a day of action Oct. 24. The 350 represents what scientists said is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere in parts per million.
According to scientific research, the current concentration of carbon dioxide is 390 parts per million.
Cathy Durkan, co-owner of Mixed Greens on Randall Street, is vice president of the alliance and is heading up the new campaign.
Durkan said she borrowed the idea from a speaker, who called it The 3/50 Project, at a buy-and-sell convention she attended in Philadelphia this August.
The 3/50 Project cites studies that link how shopping at locally owned businesses keeps more money in the local economy compared to chain stores or national businesses.
Durkan said the goal is not to bash the chain stores or tell consumers to stop shopping at them just because these corporations purchase their inventory elsewhere. But her store also offers unique gifts handmade by Annapolis designers that customers wouldn't find at their nearby mall or big-box store.
"We're not trying to say anything negative about the way people shop," she said. "We're just saying, give some local stores a chance and see if there might be more advantages than you realized."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Jewish Celebrities
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
