The following locally-owned businesses support the Chippewa Valley's Buy Local Holiday campaign:

Why will your $100 help?

Because dollars spent with local businesses stay in the community at a much higher percentage than dollars spent at big box stores.

Local businesses produce more income, jobs, and tax revenues for local regions. Local businesses keep neighborhoods vibrant and unique.

Shopping local is good for the environment, often reducing the need to ship products from thousands of miles away.

Finally, there's the obvious. Local businesses are fundamentally tied into the future of their communities and do things like donate more money to local causes and events.

Here's the math:

For every $100 spent at a local and independent business, $65 stays in the local economy*.

This is what economists call the multiplier effect - meaning the money is then re-spent by the owners and employees of the first shop at other restaurants, clothing stores, bars, spas, gift stores, dentists, auto mechanics, and more.

By contrast that same $100 spent at big national chain retailers re-circulates, at best, only $43.

That means the difference between shopping locally and at a chain store is a 58% increase in the multiplier. If we combine Volume One's unique print and online readership together, it estimates to be more than 45,000 people+.

So if you and all our readers were to spend just $100 over the next several weeks at local retailers, the total holiday spending will be $4.5 million. Thanks to the localized multiplier, the money spent at local stores, restaurants, and service providers quickly multiplies into $7.56 million. And that makes a big impact.

Sounds simple? It is.

But it won't work unless we all do our part. Now, click the "Recommend" Facebook link at the top of this page to pledge your support for local businesses and help spread the word.

*This stat and the others are according to the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics.

+Volume One's readership is calculated by combining our circulation with the average pass-along rate of free weekly alternative papers, then adding it to a conservative version of our verified web stats for an average two-week cycle. Yes, it’s only an estimation. Actual economic impact is likely +/- a million dollars or more.