Today, Mayor Buddy Dyer will hit the streets to recruit businesses to participate in the Buy Local Orlando program to encourage economic recovery in the City of Orlando. The Buy Local Orlando campaign is a pro-active and practical approach for connecting the businesses of Orlando with the buying power of the local community. Today, the website, buylocalorlando.net will go live, allowing local retail, dining, entertainment, hospitality and service industry businesses in the City of Orlando sign up join the program, which will launch to consumers and the community on May 1, 2009.
Each merchant member will receive:
· Listing on the searchable website BuyLocalOrlando.net
· Subscription to a monthly email newsletter keeping you up to date on the program
· Invitation to the kick-off event on May 1, 2009
· Marketing Toolkit, including a window sticker, poster, Ad templates, CD with program logos for marketing materials, Buy Local Orlando Cards and brochures explaining the program to consumers, all in a custom Buy Local Orlando Shopping Bag.
· Email blasts to local residents inviting them to shop locally and educating them as to the benefits
· Access to educational seminars
· Participation in networking and marketing events
· Advertising co-ops and discounts with media partners
According to an economic analysis, for every $100 spent at a locally-owned business, $45 goes back into the community and local tax base, and for every $100 spent at a non-local chain store, only $13 comes back to the local area.
Buy Local Orlando, a partnership with the Disney Entrepreneur Center, is intended to be a multi-year program that educates the public and local businesses supports and strengthens locally-owned businesses and local jobs and keeps more dollars spent in our community.
REGISTRATION:
Participating businesses will pay an introductory price of $49.00 to register as a Buy Local Orlando merchant from April 1 to April 30, 2009. Beginning, May 1, 2009 businesses will pay the standard rate of $99.00. All registrations issued in 2009 will be valid until September 30, 2010. Businesses will have the option of renewing their Buy Local Orlando registration or enrolling as a merchant at the standard rate of $99.00 when their business tax receipt is renewed each year.
MAYOR AVAILABILITY:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
1 – 1:30 p.m.
WHERE:
Meet at the corner of Central Boulevard and North Osceola Avenue in Downtown Orlando.
BACKGROUND:
At the Mayor’s State of the City Address, he unveiled his Strengthen Orlando initiative. This comprehensive plan is designed to identify activities to help create jobs, provide economic stimulus, connect residents with vital resources and information and ensure that Orlando remains on track for a prosperous future.
As a part of the Strengthen Orlando initiative, Mayor Dyer pledged to champion a Buy Local Orlando campaign. The goal of the campaign is to educate Central Floridians to think local when considering where to make purchases while raising awareness of the benefits of choosing to buy local.
For more information about the Buy Local Orlando program and to sign-up, visit buylocalorlando.net.
Read more here:
April Fool’s Day was the appropriate launch of the City’s “Buy Local” campaign and we’ve at ourlando.com have been getting lots of questions about what we think about it. On the surface, it sounds like a great program, but it has one fundamentally misleading element to it that consumers & small business owners should be aware of: their definition of local is the exact opposite of what “local first” campaigns around the country, including ours, are trying to promote. Any business with a sales tax receipt can be a part of the city program, including McDonald’s, Walmart & Best Buy. The Orlando Business Journal recently stated the program was modeled after the one in Austin – but one look at their website clearly shows they promote independent & locally-owned businesses – not any old chain store that has a tax id.
http://ourlando.com/2009/04/02/the-city-of-orlandos-buy-anything-that-generates-sales-tax-campaign/