Alterra Coffee is a proud founding member of Our Milwaukee, a local business alliance that advocates for a stronger local economy and preservation of our unique city’s character.
On Sunday, December 6th from 1pm - 5pm at Lakefront Brewery, Our Milwaukee will present the annual Buy Local Fair in conjunction with Outpost Exchange’s Alternative Gift Fair. This event brings together local businesses and non-profits for an afternoon of holiday shopping, good food, good drink and free brewery tours! It also serves as a kickoff for the Our Milwaukee Buy Local/Live Local Days being celebrated through Sunday, December 13th.
Click here to visit the Third Coast Digest website for more info about the event and a list of vendors and participants. Admission is free and includes live music and complimentary beverages and snacks!
Whether or not you’re able to join us at the fair, please keep in mind the following facts when choosing where to shop this holiday season:
* Buy Local – Support Yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms – continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.
* Support Community Groups: Non-profit organizations receive an average of 250% more support from small business owners than they do from large businesses.
* Keep our Community Unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun – all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefits. “When people go on vacation they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.”
* Reduce Environmental Impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
* Create More Good Jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community; providing the most jobs to residents.
* Invest in the Community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in the community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.
* Put Your Taxes to Good Use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
* Buy What You Want, Not What Someone Wants You to Buy: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
* Encourage Local Prosperity: A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.
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