Buy Local: Support our Island Economy

**NEW** Join the Deer Isle-Stonington Buy Local Campaign **NEW**

The goal of Buy Local campaigns is to educate people on the power of their spending dollars. By spending on the island and therefore keeping more money on Deer Isle, we can help businesses here to survive and prosper, economic energy that is essential to maintaining a year-round community. Establishing a Buy Local campaign is an easy way to sustain small towns like ours by investing in local businesses. For every $100 spent at a big box store off island, $14 will stay in a local economy. If the same $100 were spent on the island, $45 stays in the community to support and create other jobs and businesses. These numbers speak volumes about what we could all do for the island if we changed our spending habits.

Supporting businesses on Deer Isle will ensure that the island maintains its unique sense of place. Towns like ours that preserve their distinct character are more likely to attract entrepreneurs and new investment. Stonington and Deer Isle value individuality and tradition, but the communities are interested in the long-term sustainability as well. Independent businesses are invested in this place and the people who live here, and this is evident in the way that businesses contribute to local schools, non-profits, and organizations.

To date, the Stonington Economic Development Committee has hosted an Eggs and Issues Breakfast to introduce the possibility of an Island Buy Local campaign before a group of twenty-five business owners and concerned citizens. The SEDC has discussed the next steps to establish, promote and launch this campaign:

• Concentrate on signage promoting buy local
• Conduct a membership drive
• Write a plan for a buy local campaign
• Send out an informational mailing
• Use one-on-one meetings to get key businessmen on board

For more information on Buy Local or to learn how you can
get involved, please email Annie Tselikis

To learn more about island businesses, visit the Deer Isle-Stonington
Chamber of Commerce website.