Last winter I went to Teton Mountaineering for a pair of skis and ended up buying a complete new backcountry setup…. whoops.  After I got over the initial shock of having dropped over a grand before 10:00am on a Wednesday, I decided to do some shopping around online.  I learned that I could have bought the same gear for about $250 less online and momentarily doubted my purchase. Then I realized I certainly couldn’t have gone to backcountry.com for help fitting my boots (which, as the guys at TM know, takes a while) or gotten a great deal for getting my skis tuned.  

How about the awesome Christmas present I bought my boyfriend last year?  I got it at Teton Village Sports and it turns out I have no idea what size he wears.  Instead of having to ship it back somewhere or drive to Idaho Falls to return it, he was able to drop by TVS after skiing one day, get a store credit (because what he really wanted was a new pair of skins) and still make it to the Calico for happy hour with, incidentally, some of our friends who work at TVS.

The point I’m making is that it’s important that we spend our money here in Jackson Hole when we can.  I know that’s not always a reality, but as long as people are “thinking Jackson first” our buying habits will fall in line.  It’s in this vein that the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce decided to start a “buy local” campaign.  The Chamber will be running ads in the local media, promoting via The Lowdown (our e-newsletter), providing information on our new “buy local” website (to be announced at the kickoff party on October 14), providing window decals, merchant bag stuffers and posters for our member businesses and bumper stickers for the public.

The campaign aims to:

• Educate consumers on the benefits of buying locally. These benefits include:  more jobs, tax revenue that supports our trails, nonprofits, parks, community events, and an overall strengthening of the Valley’s economy.
• Educate consumers on the wide range of products available here in Jackson Hole and encourage them to “Think Jackson Hole First” before going outside of our local economy to purchase products.
• Encourage local businesses to patronize local vendors and businesses when possible in recognition that by buying locally they are helping to recycle Jackson Hole dollars through our community and economy.

44 local businesses businesses have already pledged money to help sustain this program by becoming founding sponsors and we received over 120 slogan entries for our “buy local” slogan contest.  We chose 5 entries and those finalists are set to find out who won the grand prize (a 3-day Stay & Play in the park, courtesy of Grand Teton Lodging Company) as well as the prizes for the runners up (including a night stat at Hotel Terra, a spa treatment at the Chill Spa, a family membership to the National Museum of Wildlife Art and a Grand Teton Music Festival BRAVO! membership) at the buy local kickoff party, October 14 from 5-7pm upstairs at the Snake River Brew Pub.  The party is open to everyone!

A special congratulations to our finalists (in no particular order):  Christie Reinhardt, Will Ferguson, Nikki Melanson, Steffan Freeman and Kevin Olson.  Interviews with each can be heard on the JH Chamber’s radio show October 13 from 3-3:30pm on 89.1 KHOL.

A special thank you to the founding sponsors of the buy local campaign who have helped make this campaign a reality and I look forward to seeing you at the Snake River Brew Pub October 14 for the kickoff party!  Questions? Contact April Hankey with the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce at 307.733.3316 x18 or april@jacksonholechamber.com.

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