Local officials launched a campaign Friday to encourage Utahns to shift at least 10 percent of their holiday shopping towards locally owned businesses.
Kristen Lavelett, Executive Director of Local First Utah, says the “Shift Your Spending” campaign could help keep millions of dollars in the Utah economy.
“We’re really just saying consider the impact of how you spend your money, and spend a portion of it in locally owned businesses because it makes a big difference,” Lavelett says.
Local First Utah has more than 4,300 locally owned and independent business partners. Specialty gift tags and Shop Small passports will be available at participating businesses on Small Business Saturday, which can be submitted for prizes.
“We really just want people to experience their holiday shopping that enhances all of our lives, to have a community experience, to know the person that you are purchasing your gifts from and to have a conversation with the other people in the shop, just return to that sense of neighborliness and community that in some ways has been lost,” Lavelett says.
The Shift Your Spending Campaign runs through the month of December.
