'Think Monroe County First'

If every household in Monroe County spends an additional $3.50 per day that they are currently spending outside of the county, local business sales will increase by more than $18.5 million per year. That's the basis for "Think Monroe County First!"--our campaign's goal is to educate local consumers about the real and valuable benefits of spending first in their home county.

Our household goal is $3.50 per day, per household—a couple of sodas, a really good cup of coffee, a gallon or two of gas. If we can increase that to $50 per week per household, then the total will rise to almost $40 million per year in increased sales (about $64,000 per business).

Local businesses support our community through employment, sales and property taxes, community service contributions, donations, and more. Every dollar that Monroe County consumers spend locally casts a vote in favor of the future of our community.Local business owners live in our community, care about our community, and invest in our community. Studies show that 40 cents of every dollar spent locally has local benefits. These dollars finance our local quality of life, making every local purchase a good investment in our community.

Here's another reason to "think Monroe County first"--each month, customers who participate in the campaign will be entered into a drawing by the local merchants they patronize. The first drawing is for four tickets to Christmas with Amy Grant & Vince Gill in St. Louis on December 19th plus dinner at Gallagher's (courtesy of The Republic Times & Action Graphics).