What if most people in your small town went to the next larger city to  purchase things because they thought it was cheaper!

That sounds familiar for a lot of small Towns and Cities in Arizona as well as many in America.  A lot of the time that purchaser thinks they are saving money, while in reality they don’t factor in the cost of driving there,  the wasted hours they spend traveling and the impact their actions have on their own Town’s economy.

What is Payson, Arizona doing to keep consumers local?

A new group called the Rim Country Business Coalition made up of eight different local business groups (several of them represent 5 or more different businesses) have organized after they realized that each one was working separately to stimulate their own individual area.  The new initiative they have started is one way to coordinate business promotions so that all parties benefit.  They realized that their power resided in working together as one large group with similar goals.

In March of this year the Rim Country Business Coalition organized their first project,  the Mogollon Merchants Rewards Card.

Mogollon Merchants Reward Card

This card is a way to provide savings for the local purchaser.  The premise is based on three groups;

The Distributor – This is a client based business that gives out the Rewards Card.  Typically they will have a one on one relationship with the purchaser.  These can be; Financial Advisors, Realtors, Accountants and even Chiropractors.  They are the ones that hand out the cards.

The Redeemer – The redeemer is customer based.  They are the; Retailers, Restaurants,  Entertainment venues or those that will provide the discount.

The Advertiser – The advertiser is the one that of course “Pays for the Cards”.  This is for the PR they attain by having their names and businesses advertized by the Distributors and Redeemers.

Sounds simple enough doesn’t it.

The concept is that the relationship of all these parties meet in the purchase.  The local purchase is made and all parties have successfully grown a new appreciation of each other.

In addition, the Coalition has decided to add another layer.  Each month they pick one of the businesses which is already participating in the card program and give it a “cash mob” focus.  This is an opportunity to exercise the network of businesses they represent and get hundreds of people to visit the same merchant during that month.

You can check out their website for more information on how you can get your card at the following site.

http://www.rimcountrybusinesscoalition.com

Support Payson and buy Locally!

What are you doing for your Community?