'Pick 3, Spend 50, Save Your Local Economy'

The 3/50 Project asks what three local, independent businesses you would miss if they were gone? Then it asks what would happen if you were to spend $50 every month at those and other local establishments. If all of us did that, according to the project's Website, it would generate $42.6 billion in revenue for these mom-and-pop retailers. As the project's tagline reads, "Pick 3, spend 50, save your local economy."

The project is the brainchild of Cinda Baxter sparked by a blog post and put together in one whirlwind week last year. The mission is to save the small, independent stores that have served as America's economic engine for centuries but are increasingly threatened by the influx of big-box retailers.

In the midst of her successful career planning special events for corporate clients such as the NFL, NBA and PGA, the vision of such a store captured Baxter's imagination, and she left the corporate world behind to open her own stationery and gift boutique in Minneapolis. After 14 years as a retailer, during which she twice won the national Retailer Excellence Award, in 2007 Baxter became a consultant and retail coach with the single-minded aim of strengthening what she refers to as "independent, brick and mortar businesses."

The project is based on the idea that for every $100 spent in local businesses, $68 returns to the local economy in payroll, taxes and business spending, while only $43 does so for $100 spent at a national chain retailer. Of course you get no local returns when the money's spent online.

What's better than an excuse to shop? Grab your $50, target your three and get spending.

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng