To register for membership as a

Sponsor, Member or Friend

please click

HERE

---

To pay for membership as a

Sponsor, Member or Friend

please click

HERE

---

Worcester Local First has a founding membership of 200+ sponsors, members and friends only seven months after officially launching our "think local first" campaign for Worcester. The Founding Sponsors, Founding Members and Founding Friends who joined by June 19 will be listed in our 2008-2009 Business Directory.

We're now producing and will print the Business Directory, 30,000 copies of which will be available for distribution to retail and business-to-business consumers by August 1. Among other things, the Directory will include the following: detailed listings for all 200+ members; nearly 40 member ads; the Top 10 Reasons to Shop Local; a detailed look at the No. 1 Reason: More money stays in Worcester when you shop local; and ways to get involved in the sustainable Local First movement that's sweeping the nation.

The Business Directory is our first major goal because it will enable consumers to know which Worcester businesses are both locally owned and independent. Right now, no such directory or database is publicly available.

The primary reason for "thinking local first" is that for every $100 spent at a locally owned, independent business, $68 stays in the local economy, while only $43 of every $100 spent at a non-locally owned, non-independent business stays in the local economy. (Source: Andersonville [Michigan] Department Corp. and Andersonville Chamber  of Commerce, 2004, Civiceconomics.com/Andersonville/.)

These figures do not factor in the profits made by locally owned, independent businesses. Such profits also stay in the community rather than leak out through non-locally owned, non-independent businesses. 

For more information, contact Worcester Local First Coordinator Steve Jones-D'Agostino at 508-791-0459 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .