City launches 'shop local' effort

Members of the DIG-IT Commitee, shown here with the "Local Joe" logo for their campaign to get people to shop locally, are, from left: Tammy McCloud, Mary Morin, Stephanie Bergh, Randy Miller, Mayor Tom Rist, Donna Herron, Paula Riggs, Sue Gross and Debbie Shoemaker.

DIG-IT, an arm of the city's Economic Development Office, has unveiled its latest project -- "Local Joe, Shop Local."

"Local Joe was created as an awareness campaign to help educate or remind the community that shopping local helps to fund all of our local services," said Sue Gross, a member of the DIG-IT committee.

"When discussion started on a shop local campaign, one of the committee members stated, 'You forget or don't realize that buying anything from a loaf of bread to furniture or a car in town puts a portion of your tax money back locally which, in turn, helps pay for our fire and police protection, our streets, our library, our parks and recreation services and much more'," Gross explained.

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