DURANGO, Colo. – He’s a stand-up guy, and, though he only recently arrived in town, he likes hanging around La Plata County. Locals are pleased to have him as he tends to represent economic prosperity.

“He” is Buck, the new mascot of the Look Local First campaign, an effort to encourage residents to spend their dollars at local businesses, and keep Buck (and his friends, Penny, Cash, Moolah and more) circulating around the community.

Neil Hannum and Jack Llewellyn with the life-sized "Buck" in the Creative Conspiracy offices.

Economic leaders have long touted the merits of “buy local,” a mantra likely so familiar, that most simply no longer hear it. Plus, many community members don’t consciously realize how sales tax revenues fund quality of life. Durango and surrounding La Plata County have traditionally been fortunate to enjoy substantial sales tax revenues, but with an economic downturn, an effort to support local businesses, keep the dollars circulating throughout the community as long as possible is critical.

“’I can’t afford to buy in this town, it’s too expensive,’ is what you hear,” said Kris Hickcox, a partner with Neil Hannum with the marketing and graphic design firm Creative Conspiracy. “That’s when we started thinking, what if we just ask people to consider it. Look here first because sometimes you might be surprised that the price here is the same as elsewhere or on line. So why wouldn’t you buy it here? Thank you for looking local first.”

“We’re trying to make it fun, light-hearted,” said Hannum. “There will be times that we’ll be able to get into what the economic multiplier effect is, but now we want this to be interesting and intriguing.”

Creative Conspiracy could be considered Buck’s parents, with the Durango Chamber of Commerce the midwife that helped give birth to the Look Local First campaign. Financial support has initially comes from the Chamber, La Plata Economic Development Action Partnership (LEAD), City of Durango, La Plata County and additional local organizations.

“One of the things we worked with is that we wanted the dollar to have a personality,” said Hannum, who when toying with the concept of Durango Dollars – $10 checks good only at local establishments – found Buck. “So, the dollar wanted to hang around La Plata County and have as much fun as the rest of us.”

Buck is relatively simple – a dollar bill personified. His image (life-sized cardboard cut out) is visiting a number of local businesses in town – from Pat Murphy Motors and Kroeger’s to Brown’s Shoe Fit and Durango Joe’s. His message: “Thanks for looking local first.”

“The Herald came up with a good idea to have a Buck Spotter like the Bear Tracker, to show where Buck has been around the community,” said Jack Llewellyn, Chamber director who has been chauffeuring Buck to various locations. Currently Buck has cloned himself 10 times, but more can be made. Those businesses that help underwrite Buck’s on-going legacy in the county will receive a Buck of their own for their storefront or place of business. Additional advertising tools bearing Buck’s image will also be available.

Buck’s arrival corresponds with the unveiling of the Be Local Coupon book, organized by LOCAL (La Plata Organizations Cooperatively Advocating Local), an alliance of locally owned, independent businesses.

“It’s all part of the push the community has had for quite a while now about buying local,” said Hannum, explaining that Creative Conspiracy had a number of clients that wanted to incorporate the “buy local” message into their marketing. “At the time I heard that the City and the local merchants were getting together, so I started attending some of those meetings.”

Instead of several (possibly confusing) messages emerging, Hannum hoped a symbiotic relationship with a clear direction would emerge among the entities. In the past the independents in town often clashed with the economic development group, primarily over definition of “what is local?”

“Maybe we actually figured out a way to work together this time,” said Llewellyn, explaining that Look Local First is the umbrella campaign, under which additional tools such as the coupon book for independents can be developed. “We’re after the same goal. We’re saying look local first. If you can find it in an independent store right on Main, great. If you can’t, maybe you can get it at Wal-Mart. We’ll still capture the dollars and sales tax revenue.”

For the purposes of LOCAL, if locally-owned businesses can make their own marketing and purchasing decisions, without going to “corporate,” then they qualify. For example, Kroeger’s is affiliated with Ace Hardware, but is locally owned and operated.

“There are a lot of companies that cross-over,” added Hannum. “We’ve got Buck down at Durango Joe’s right now. Joe’s a classic example of an independent local business, but he’s also taking advantage of this umbrella campaign.”

Going forward, businesses will be able to further the message with marketing pieces, such as magnets, window stickers. According to Llewellyn, the media is fully in support of Look Local First, as they understand that local businesses enjoying higher sales revenues will in turn have more dollars to put toward advertising. Buck is already speaking out on the radio

“One statistic to use is from a store that’s here in Durango and in Farmington, a national chain,” said Llewellyn. “A couple of years ago, when they compared sales figures, there was $700,000 being spent in Farmington by people from La Plata County, but only $75,000 coming back this way. That’s retail leakage, and that’s all money going to Farmington that’s not supporting our roads, trails, everything. When you add it all up, it’s a huge number.”

Perhaps Bobby Lieb, Llewellyn’s predecessor at the Chamber/LEAD explained the concept best with a bucket, which would represent La Plata County. The idea is to keep that bucket full of water (dollars), and for the water (dollars) to remain in the bucket as long as possible before leaking out the bottom.

Sources of water (dollars) come from the outside – for example, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Zuberfizz, Ska and Steamworks brewing companies all sell products outside the county, with the dollars returning to the businesses based here. Also, tourism pours a great deal of water (dollars) into that bucketl guests bring their funds from other communities, and leave them here in the form of train tickets, restaurant tabs and retail purchases. All those dollars from outside pay salaries of employees who ideally spend many of those dollars locally, thereby funding other salaries, and so it goes.

Eventually, water (dollars) does leak from the bucket, as, for example, the aforementioned manufacturers must purchase raw ingredients from outside the area. Local dollars spent on the internet automatically leave.

“We’re thinking about developing a pie chart where you can log in your own spending habits and figure out how much you spend and where it goes, just to get an idea,” said Hannum. “For example, I look at my pie, and mortgage flies right out of the community. There are certain areas you can control and certain ones that you can’t. Just identifying those is key.”

As the campaign continues, expect to see a costumed Buck in local parades, at City Council meetings and even at groundbreakings or the launch of road repairs.

“As this develops, it would be great to have some kind of sign that says, ‘This playground or this bike path was partially funded by Look Local First,’” said Hickcox. “I think there’s a big disconnect. You start talking about that revenue that comes from the sales taxes – how does that get divided out. Your dollar, what happens to it? I’m not sure what the language is on that yet, or what the images are, but at some point we need to connect all that.”

And looking at supporting local businesses, Llewellyn added, “With this campaign maybe we can be recession-proof and help offset the downturn in the economy.”

For further information on the program or sponsorship opportunities – or to follow Buck’s adventures – visit LookLocalFirst.blogspot.com, or contact Llewellyn at 237.0312.

 indiana@durangodowntown.com