Winning Numbers: 3/50 Project Boosts Support for Locally Owned Businesses

A Message from the Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront Association -
For independent local business owners, the best formula for surviving a holiday season recession bay be a simple number - 3/50.
The 3/50 Project is a consumer driven movement that is being embraced in Gig Harbor just as it is catching on in many small communities across the U.S. The project, voluntarily backed by independent small business enterprises, encourages shoppers to pick three locally owned businesses and spend $50 a month at them.
It's that simple - no member contracts, no promotional costs, no rebate points. Merchants register on a website to raise attention for the project, and consumers decide to direct their spending power into their local communities where it makes a difference.
The project's website spells it out with some clear statistics:

• Of $100 spent in locally owned stores, $68 returns to the community in the form of taxes payroll, and other expenditures. Shop at a chain store and that return could drop to $43.
• If half the employed population spent $50 per month in locally owned businesses, it could generate $42 billion in revenue, according to US Labor Department statistics.

"Sometimes the simplest solutions can solve the most complex challenges we face, " said Mary DesMarais, executive director of the Gig Harbor Historic Waterfront Association (GHHWA). She and others in the GHHWA are encouraging businesses in the historic waterfront district to learn about and participate in the project if they want to create a local economic stimulus program of their own.

"This is something we can do for our own businesses and community, without any delay or complexity. It makes sense that if we want our local businesses to thrive, we must act accordingly. that's what this project does for us."

In Gig Harbor's retail community, some local store owners already know about and support the 3/50 project. Cherie Earnhart, owner of Vanilla Bean cooking and kitchen store, and her storefront neighbor Randi Kokonaski, owner of SeaGlass Interiors, are enthusiastic about the project and are hoping it will gain an increased local following. While busy at their counters wrapping merchandise for customers, they both said the idea makes sense as a way to encourage the benefits of shopping locally.

The 3/50 Project was created in Minneapolis last spring and has generated a grassroots consumer movement in local shops from New Jersey to Arizona. Some small enterprises claim that the posters and fliers promoting the 3/50 approach have saved their businesses, or at least boosted business with double-digit increases in revenue and strong local following among customers.

The backbone of the project is an informational website http://www.the350project.net/, where local retailers and independent shop owners can register and obtain information and promotional fliers, website badges and other self marketing materials.

The 3/50 Project is gaining media spotlight, with recent stories having appeared in The Wall Street Journal, on CNN and in Consumer Reports magazine.