“By Haines: think, hire, shop” decals displayed in shop windows around town are part of a new campaign driven by the ‘buy local’ committee that aims to learn about and take advantage of locally produced goods and services.
The committee is a partnership between the Haines Chamber of Commerce and the Haines Economic Development Corporation. HEDC director Margaret Friedenauer and chamber executive director Tracey Harmon presented the “By Haines” campaign at a chamber luncheon earlier this month.
Friedenauer said one part of the campaign is to promote mindfulness regarding shopping locally by educating residents about the how locally spent dollars circulate in town. “We’re not telling people to shut down their Amazon accounts, but we’re trying to get people to think about why considering local is healthy for everybody and why it builds community.”
As an example, HEDC board member Harry Rietze said he was unaware of a local sale until he was in the store already, and that the campaign will hopefully serve to better publicize what goods and services are available.
Using grant funding from the Chilkat Valley Community Foundation, the committee will place educational ads in the CVN and on social media.
During the presentation Harmon told chamber members about plans for video spotlighting. Using grant funding, Harmon and others will create a several-minute video that focuses on a local business and the products and services it offers. The video will be posted to social media.
The committee is also exploring asking the borough to implement sales-tax-free days to promote shopping after PFDs are issued among other initiatives.
Committee members will gauge the campaign’s success after one year by looking at sales tax revenues and surveying local businesses. “We know that we’re not the only ‘shop local’ campaign to ever exist in Haines,” Harmon said. “There have been several previous efforts. We want to think [that] we’re revitalizing and refreshing the ‘shop local’ campaign. I think the timing is perfect for it right now because we have several key players in our community. We have the Haines Economic Development Corporation and a lot of really excited representatives from businesses to make it all work.”