Martinsville Uptown has received a grant of $250,000 from the Harvest Foundation to launch the Shop Local Initiative. In Partnership with the EDC and the Chamber of Commerce, Martinsville Uptown will work toward three major objectives.
Over $45,000,000 is being spent by local residents outside this community every year. We want to find out what that money is being spent on and what businesses could open here that would havev a ready clientele. A survey will be conducted to determine which products and services would be likely to sell well here, and the results will be turned into a list of such businesses will be circulated among the community in the hopes of matching business opportunities wil entrepreneurs. To facilitate that process, the EDC will prepare two business plans from the list each year for three years so that the businesses that have the highest demand will have a turn-key business plan ready to go.
Step two is the creation of ShopLocalMHC.com, a website that will feature all businesses in Maritnsville - Henry County. This website will allow residents to go to a single source to see all the products and services available in our area. The website will also allow local businesses to sell their products online through the site.
Step three is a massive marketing campaign that will include billboards, TV ads and other media to promote the Shop Local Initiative. We want to educate the public about how much money is leaving our local economy every year. If that $45,000,000 were all spent in locally owned stores, we would retiain over $30,000,000 in the MHC economy. We want everyone to know what a difference where they spend their money makes and empower them to make their dollars make a difference in our community.