[StBernard] "Stay Local!: A Project of The Urban Conservancy"

[Westley Annis]

*$1.5M Potential for New Orleans-Area Businesses*
 
New Orleans, LA – As consumers gear up for the holiday shopping season, The Urban Conservancy, a land use and economic development organization, is urging them to shop at locally-owned businesses, this Saturday, Nov. 21 as part of a parish-wide effort to boost the local economy by an estimated $1.5 million.
 
The effort, part of a campaign dubbed “New Orleans Unchained,” is a local spin on a national campaign called “America Unchained,” the purpose of which is to educate consumers about the effect that spending has on their local economy and encourage them to shop with local merchants.
 
“We’re facing major budgetary shortfalls in both Jefferson and Orleans parishes,” said David T. Baker, project coordinator for Stay Local!, The Urban Conservancy’s economic development initiative. “By patronizing locally-owned businesses, what consumers are really doing is ensuring greater revenue retention for their regions.”
 
According to The Urban Conservancy’s latest study, Thinking Outside the Box: A Report on Independent Merchants and the New Orleans Economy, local retailers produce twice the economic benefit for the region than their big box competitors. “We found that by shifting even a small portion of our spending – a mere ten percent – to locally-owned establishments, we could infuse our local economy with an additional $60 million annually.”
 
The study’s findings also state that local retailers generate twice the annual sales, re-circulate revenues within the local economy at twice the rate, and on a per square foot basis, have four times the economic impact resulting in an additional $235 million for the Greater New Orleans region.
 
“We’re hoping that New Orleans Unchained will help to reconnect shoppers with the locally-owned businesses that have been supporting their communities for years,” Baker said.
 
To find out more about New Orleans Unchained, visit http://www.staylocal.org. To read the study, visit http://www.staylocal.org/info/category/stay-local-reports/
 
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