Vernonia's voice., January 20, 2022, Image 10

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Community
January 20
2022
2021 Keep it Local for the Holidays
Campaign Smashes Record for Local Spending
Keep it Local Columbia County is excited
to announce that their 2021 holiday campaign was
unlike any other – in the best of ways! What do they
mean? Using 1,958 turned in “Wonderland Cards”,
when shopping locally, the Keep it Local for the Hol-
idays campaign recorded $391,600 in local spending
across Columbia County. That is four times higher
than their previous record, $96,000 in 2019. With
such a staggering increase, one can confidently say
Columbia County was very supportive of its small
businesses and non-profits for the holidays!
“Thank you to our partners, and sponsors
for supporting local!” said Sierra Trass, Executive
Director of Keep It Local Columbia County. “This
makes a huge difference in our community. Since
about 70¢ per dollar of money spent locally stays in
the community, versus just 43¢ from corporations,
this means there’s about $275,000 to be reinvested
in creating jobs, growing businesses, supporting lo-
cal non-profits, bolstering tax bases, and doing all
the others good things money that stays local can
do!”
What was the recipe to this year’s success?
Well, there were three important ingredients.
First, a combined 84 businesses and non-
profits participated this year, representing each
of Columbia County’s major cities – Clatskanie,
Rainier, Scappoose, St. Helens, and Vernonia. Even
some home businesses and a farm joined the cam-
paign, adding Deer Island and Columbia City into
the mix. With a variety of locations to choose from
across the country, it was quite easy for the shopper
to choose local with their Wonderland Card.
The second ingredient? This year’s marketing
efforts were increased. Various mediums were used in-
cludes a billboard in St. Helens, weekly showings on
KOHI AM 1600 radio, posters in participating loca-
tions’ windows, tent cards on restaurant tables, daily
social media posts on Keep it Local’s Facebook and
Instagram, an article cover in the Clatskanie PUD Ru-
ralite, and other media coverages. With a conservative
estimate, with what data could be captured, there were
over 533,000 impressions (the amount of times an ad
was seen) during the campaign! (Yes, that was another
Reach thousands of potential customers
Advertise here!
Email: Scott@VernoniasVoice.com
Call: (503) 367-0098
record breaker!)
The last ingredient, and the most important, is
that people purposely chose to support local busi-
nesses and non-profits this year. Various national
data research stated that shopping small would be a
2021 holiday shopping trend. This rang true for our
community. Even in Keep it Local Columbia Coun-
ty’s August 2021 survey, 78% of locals chose the
option “to support local businesses” as why they
shop local. This desire of residents to support local
business and non-profits for the holidays is what re-
ally made the campaign possible. Plus, with many
participating locations encouraging and making it
easy for customers to choose local, the chemistry
was just right.
Mix all these together, and add a few dashes
of Keep it Local spice, and out baked a successful
holiday campaign. And optimistically, 2022 should be
even better with more records to be broken!
On behalf of Keep it Local, thank you to the
businesses, non-profits, locals, and visitors who joined
our campaign this year. Additionally, we send a very
appreciative thank you to our sponsors this year who
made the campaign possible. This year was proudly
sponsored by Wauna Credit Union, Pacific Stainless,
Richardson’s Furniture, Sass at Home, Northwest
Plumbing Services, Columbia Economic Team, Clats-
kanie PUD, Columbia River Jewelers, KOHI AM
1600 Radio, and InRoads Credit Union.
Poppino Painting
971-533-4908
Tim Poppino
19025 Woods Road
Vernonia, OR 97064
Licensed
Bonded
Insured
CCM#90548
Firewood For Sale at Pihl’s Wood Yard
2.5 miles south
of Vernonia
on Hwy 47
Many options
to choose from
Keeping
Vernonia
employed!
Call Cody (971) 203-3458 or Mike (503) 789-1268