Articles

Save Jobs. Shop Local. Spend Now.

The following message was sent out to all Champaign County Chamber of Commerce members. We feel that it was important to share here because of our involvement in the community and our concern for the economic and entrepreneurial well-being of the area.

Letter to the Membership

Just yesterday, I read an article in U.S News and it started like this ... "Who's next? With consumers shutting their wallets and corporate revenues plunging, the business landscape may start to resemble a graveyard in 2009." While there are a myriad of reasons for our current economic climate, one factor is certain: consumer confidence is shaken. We know that there isn't much that we can do to change the national landscape, but we can work together in our community to identify opportunities and solutions to help ease consumer fear. The Champaign County Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Champaign Downtown Association, the Urbana Business Association, and the Mahomet, Rantoul and St. Joseph Chambers of Commerce are excited to announce a united effort to encourage cash flow in our county through our Save Jobs. Shop Local. Spend Now. campaign.

We are very conscious that we have people in our community who are out of work and we by no means intend for this campaign to sound frivolous in suggesting that shopping is the only answer to this current economic situation - and we are certainly not encouraging people to spend unwisely. But we are encouraging our residents to understand the consequences for a community when consumers hold back on their spending or they turn to the Internet as a means for saving money.

We are a community blessed with a diverse mix of business and it's that mix that makes our economy work. With this campaign, we are urging our residents to spend their dollars locally and are communicating the message that it is all right to invest in yourself, your family, your home and your business. Because when you invest in all these things by making purchases locally, you are investing in public safety and basic services.

When collectively, a community holds back on spending or shops the Internet, our cities have trouble paying for our basic services like road work and improvements, and fire and police protection. When collectively we hold back, we see businesses that have served our community close their doors and we see people - our neighbors, our family, our friends - lose their jobs. This is not a cycle we can break at the national level, but it is a cycle that we can help break in our local community if we all make a concentrated effort to purchase those extra items or services that we have eliminated from our daily lives - and to certainly not buy them online when possible.

We want our business community to be involved, and here are some ways that you can be:

• Identify ways to communicate the Save Jobs. Shop Local. Spend Now. message to your customers and employees;
• Place the Save Jobs. Shop Local. Spend Now. message on your outdoor signs and marquees;
• Purchase the campaign T-shirts for your employees and encourage them to wear the shirts to work and to meetings (T-shirts available through the Chamber);
• Download the Web site decal from www.champaigncounty.org and add it to your Web site;
• Add the message to your signature on e-mail;
• Adopt the campaign title and incorporate it into your own business promotions.
• The campaign slogan is for all businesses to use;
• Send the Chamber your business success story so that we can share positive news about the local economy;
• Call the Chamber and ask for a Save Jobs. Shop Local. Spend Now. door decal (provided by Martin Graphics);
• Review your vendors. Identify the vendors that you use out of market and determine whether you can shift even as little as 5 percent back to the Champaign County market. If you need help finding vendors, contact the Chamber to help you make those connections.

Stay prosperous.

Laura Weis
President & CEO