We Put 5,300 'Wallets' In The Mail!
Business and community leaders throughout Greater Des Moines are opening their mailboxes this week to find a “Look Local First” wallet inside. The wallet is the latest marketing piece of the “Look Local First” campaign, the brain child of the Regional Business Development Board, which encourages decision makers and purchasing agents in the region to consider the real impact and value of making common business expenditures locally. The wallets, created by Saturday Manufacturing, were addressed to 5,300 partners and mailed on Monday.
Each year, businesses and governments in Greater Des Moines spend more than $13.4 billion with out-of-area suppliers. Shifting just five percent of a business’s spending to Des Moines vendors could generate an economic impact of more than $1 billion for Des Moines. That’s why the Greater Des Moines Partnership created Look Local First — an initiative to promote expertise, products, and services in our own backyard.
“Keeping more dollars in Central Iowa is a great way to grow our businesses and strengthen the local economy,” says Ed Minnick, Chair of the Partnership’s Business-to-Business Committee that oversees the campaign. “Money spent locally does come back. We have a better economy, jobs are plentiful, we have better schools, better roads, better everything.
The wallets are the second strategy of the Look Local First campaign and continue its fun and playful approach to growing public awareness on a serious business issue: the real advantages of buying from local businesses and promoting area businesses. The goal of the campaign is to affect a shift in local business-to-business purchasing to retain five percent of the amount now spent out of the Greater Des Moines area. Economic research behind the campaign shows even a five percent shift in local purchasing practices can have a significant impact on the bottom line for area businesses and can help to create a sustainable future for the community.
Visit LookLocalDSM.com for more information.
About the Greater Des Moines Partnership
The Greater Des Moines Partnership is the economic and community development organization that serves Greater Des Moines (DSM), Iowa. Together with 23 Affiliate Chambers of Commerce, more than 6,100 Regional Business Members and more than 330 Investors, The Partnership drives economic growth with one voice, one mission and as one region. Through innovation, strategic planning and global collaboration, The Partnership grows opportunity, helps create jobs and promotes DSM as the best place to build a business, a career and a future. Learn more at DSMpartnership.com.