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Kankakee County Area “Buy Local – Hire
Local” Campaign
Proclamation Signing
Over 25 County and Township elected officials, mayors
and representatives of area cities and villages, superintendents and board
members of area public schools, representatives of area institutions of
higher education, representatives of organized labor, and chamber of commerce
presidents and representatives will participate in a signing of the proclamation
in support of the Kankakee County Area “Buy Local – Hire Local.”
Campaign at the Kankakee County Board chambers at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday,
December 4, 2002.
The proclamation to be signed emphasizes that any money spent outside
of the Kankakee County Area results in no economic benefit to the local
community, while research indicates that for every one dollar spent locally,
seven dollars in economic benefit is generated for the local economy.
The local community is the area closest to one’s home or place of
employment. Local goods and/or service providers are any locally owned
or national chain that maintains a place of business that employs people
who live in the area, pays taxes for local services, and supports their
local community.
The “Buy Local – Hire Local” campaign began as a Bradley-Bourbonnais
Chamber of Commerce billboard campaign in November 2001. During the past
year three forums have met to increase awareness of the barriers of buying
and hiring locally and to suggest solutions. The successful forums, attended
by more than 45 area business, government, and community purchasers and
area suppliers and vendors increased awareness and resulted in the creation
of an action plan to increase local buying and hiring by at least 5-10%.
A part of the Action Plan included expansion of the campaign to include
all area chambers, the approval of the Proclamation by all of the governing
boards of the participants, and an expansion of the billboard campaign
to include all communities, all chambers, and all governing entities in
the Kankakee County Area. A web site, www.buylocalhirelocal.com, has been
created to keep the Kankakee County Area and the world aware of the campaign,
the solutions to barriers, to provide information about additional activities,
to identify all who support the campaign, and let purchasers known where
to acquire area goods and services.
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