St George Business Chamber has launched a Buy Local campaign to encourage business and consumers to support locally-owned businesses.
“When you spend $100 at a local business, on average 58 per cent or more of your money stays in your community compared to what would have happened if you spent that $100 at a multinational company based store” St George Business Chamber vice-president, Tony Baddour said.
“When you support locally owned businesses, you’re not only supporting the local economy and the employment of local people, you are also directly supporting your local sporting groups and your local community in general,” he said.
St George Business Chamber president Allan Zreik announced the Buy Local campaign at three business forums held recently by the St George Business Chamber in Kogarah, Hurstville and Mortdale and attended by numerous local business owners.
The Buy Local campaign will be promoted by the chamber over the next 12 months.
Mr Zreik said buying local makes good economic sense.
“This encourages the health and sustainability of your local community,” he said.
“You will also be encouraging community engagement while creating long-term relationships and promoting loyalty within your community.”
Shaoquett Moselmane MLC who attended the Hurstville business forum held at Club Central Hurstville said the Buy Local campaign was a wonderful initiative by the St George Business Chamber.
“This will resonate not only with the business community but also the wider community,” he said.
Mr Zreik has also announced a second chamber initiative - the formation of the St George Business Development Committee in the coming weeks.
“This committee is based on key business sector consultation including business leaders and key stakeholders,” he said.
It will provide in-depth input on the priorities and opportunities for business growth and development for the local community in the years to come.
The Business Development Committee came about after consultation with industry and business stakeholders.
These identified a number of values to underpin the work of the Business Development Committee.
These include having a welcoming investment environment by reducing red tape and make it easy to do business within the St George Business Community; improved transport and digital infrastructure; local jobs for local residents; and continuing to build a unique, successful and vibrant business strategic location.
Federal Member for Banks, David Coleman said the Buy Local campaign and the formation of the St George Business Development Committee were both major step forwards for the St George Business Chamber.
“These initiatives are a good step in the right direction for business and the wider community,” he said.
Mr Coleman agreed with the Chamber’s commitment to improve parking and infrastructure in the local area.
“Parking is a problem in the area and more parking needs to be made available for the community” he said.
The St George Business Chamber runs programs that offer promotional materials, events and networking opportunities.
“While today’s technology and the ability to network online may have you wondering if the local Chamber of Commerce way of doing business in person is obsolete, think again,” Mr Zreik said.
There’s still nothing as strong as face-to-face communication where building trust, respect and name recognition is concerned.
“Our mission is to help businesses maximise their potential in the St George Area and to be the voice of small business.”
