Cinda Baxter on the 3/50 Project

3/50 Project Promotes Spending Locally

As you hit the stores for some holiday shopping, a Nebraska native has a message for you.

Cinda Baxter travels the country telling people to buy locally.

Locally-owned Video Kingdom employees know that just blocks away "the big guys" - like Wal-Mart and Best Buy - are enticing the locals.

"It is a little bit of a challenge," said Jason Meister, general manager.

Meister said servicing their products and drawing people who comparison shop online with their comparable prices keeps them competitive, but the Internet isn't always a plus.

"A lot of our items are really small anymore so if somebody can buy something and there's no sales tax on it, some people would just purchase it on the Internet," said Meister.

Baxter, founder of the 3/50 Project, says those Internet savings can have a devastating effect on a community.

"We're taking dollars and spending every penny of it some place that doesn't touch our emergency services locally, doesn't touch our city streets," she said. "By taking that much money, that much revenue away from the community it has to be made up somewhere and homeowners a lot of times we'll see our personal property taxes go up."

Baxter is urging holiday shoppers to think 3/50 - shop three locally independent stores and spend $50 at those businesses a month.

"It's not giving anything up. It's just thinking and balancing things a little bit better, and by doing so we actually can improve our quality of life and make sure that our communities are around for a long time," said Baxter.

She says of $100 spent, a chain will leave $43 in the community but a local store will give back $68.

Baxter says advertising is often a challenge for small businesses. She says the 3/50 Project has free marketing materials to get them started.