FOCUS: Lowcountry Local First makes big differences in 10th year

An image from a video on the Growing New Farmers program. See the video.

By Jamee Haley, special to Charleston Currents  |  2017 was a great year for Lowcountry Local First as we celebrated our first decade of loving our local business community. It was a year full of gratitude, and time spent listening to ensure that your input and priorities guide our work in the decade to come. We’re not slowing down!

Haley

1. We celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a community-wide art installation known as “Love a Local,” a proclamation by the Mayor of the City of Charleston, and by honoring 10 Local Luminaries who’ve supported the local business community in major ways.

2. We really listened. We put a lot of energy into gathering feedback from you to help guide the next decade of our work, via 33 focus groups and interviews and a full Membership-Wide Survey (if you’re a current member, there’s still time to provide your input!).

3. We continued to use our collective voice to represent our more than 600 members, using our media partners to shout the importance of LOCAL from the rooftops!

4. We hit a new milestone with 100 Town Proud business members certified, expanding our partnership program with the Town of Mont Pleasant.

5. We had more than 2,000 individuals and 18 teams engage in our free mobile app during the Eat Local Challenge in April, pledging to shift their food budget to local sources.

6. We launched a Community Storefront Challenge with partner Metanoia to catalyze Main Street activity in an under-resourced neighborhood, and will incubate local businesses in the Spring of 2018.

7. We provided free desk space and mentorship to 4 Creatives in Residence at Local Works, our community work space that serves more than 40 small businesses.

8. We graduated 22 new farmers and food system leaders into the community through our Growing New Farmers Program.

9. We inspired conversations and ideas among the more than 270 regional business leaders at our 5th annual Good Business Summit.

10. We just wrapped up our most visible Buy Local Month campaign to date, and had the Mayor of City of Charleston proclaim Nov 15 – Dec 15 as Buy Local Month.

​Jamee Haley is executive director of Lowcountry Local First.  To learn more, click here.​

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