Todd County Community Alliance Newsletter HELPING OUR BUSINESSES AND COMMUNITY PROSPERISSUE 5: APRIL 2012 Imagine a box where just a few people stood inside. Now, think outside the box, and at the top there are over twice as many people there. To the left of the box there are 6 times as many people. To the right of the box there are twice as many people. Go farther right and there are 9 times as many outside the box. At the bottom right of the box, there ar e 4 times as many. Directly below the b ottom of the box, there are about 14 times as many people than the box has inside! There is a place in Kentucky shaped like a rectangular box, do you know this place? The population around it employs 80 percent of its working people. Only 20 percent stayinside this rectangular box to work. Although it is a blessing to be nestled in the midst of larger areas, this can be a curse for the box as well. Imagine if each person inside the box decided they wanted to have more jobs at home (80/20 rather than 20/80), more things to do, more places to shop, increased wages, more public ser- vices from in creased re venue, an d more oppor tunity to give. Each and ever y person make s a difference. Collectively people can move mountain s. Each per- son does not deliberately cause a business to close, or intentionally keep a new business from opening, but by showing indifference and not caring where their money is spent, each person’s purchasing power has the same effect. What if it were possible to double, triple, or even further increase the comme rce inside our co mmunity? What ifour kids could dream of doing something here, and at least learn how to work here, instead of dreaming of be- ing somewhere else or just hanging out here still dream- ing. Other towns outside our area are not dependent on our dollars to keep them going, but our area can grow tre- mendously if each person consciously shopped at home. Heightened awareness of where we spend will make the difference. Towns in Kentucky like Belle- vue, Danville , and Hen derson have tried “shop local” campaigns , and the results were amazing.This year the Todd County Community Alliance and the Guthrie Partners for Main Street are working w ith one common cause: to e ncourage e veryone to shop at Todd County busines ses. Both groups are working on events and projects to not only provide things to do for our citizens, but to bring visitors to our c ommunity to ope n their e yes to the unique a nd wonde rful businesses our county (the rectangular box) has to offer. This year, the Alliance is starting a “Shop Local” campaign. The first Friday of every month beginning Fri- day, May 4th will be “Shop Local Friday.”Look for all kinds of shop local contests and events focused on shopping local. While this will only be a on e day event each month, the most important thing for us is to do is try harder to spend our money at home and shop local every day. Because, each dollar tha t stays in our countykeeps multiplyin g. Think in side the box. “Think Inside the Box” - Shop Local Todd County! Look Inside for Shop Local Fridays Special Events Starting Friday, May 4th— Also vi sit www.toddco untyca.org.Helping our Businesses and Community Prosper
