There’s a nationwide movement called the 3/50 Project. The idea is to pick 3 of your favorite local businesses and try to spend $50 a month at each of them. The founder of the 3/50 Project recently spoke in Newton:
Can spending just $50 a month at small businesses save the local economy?
Cinda Baxter believes it can. She’s the founder of “The 3/50 Project,” a program dedicated to encouraging consumers to support local, independently owned businesses.
Baxter spoke to a group of local business owners Wednesday night at the Meridian Center in Newton and told them about how the project could help the economy in Harvey County.
“Cinda Baxter understands small business from the inside out, having once been a retailer herself,” said Nancy Ludlum, owner of Imaginary Designs in Newton.
The idea behind the 3/50 project is simple: Consumers pick three brick-and-mortar local stores they wouldn’t want to lose and spend $50 at independently owned businesses a month.
Consumers’ individual contributions may be small, but the impact can be huge, Baxter said.
Locally owned, independent merchants return 68 percent of their income to the local economy. …
“This is the power of small business proven true,” Baxter said. “The 3/50 project is about all local merchants. Every single merchant plays a role in the local economy.”
Read the full article in the Newton Kansan.
And, if you’re interested in more information about the the 3/50 Project, you can visit the Kansas portion of the movement’s website at http://www.the350project.net/states/KS.html. The site lists cities and businesses in Kansas that are already involved.