While the Municipality of Brighton is regularly promoting its downtown and the offerings of its overall business community, the introduction of U.S. tariffs are driving home a new campaign that encourages shoppers to spend their dollars locally and purchase Canadian goods.
To that end, the Municipality of Brighton has declared the third week of April as “Love Local Week,” which is on now until Saturday (April 19).
“Council has declared (Love Local Week) in Brighton to encourage residents to get out and support local businesses,” Caroline Birch, Brighton’s economic development and executive offices coordinator, told kawarthaNOW.
“To complement the declaration and further encourage residents to get out and support local, we’ve partnered with the Brighton (Downtown Business Improvement Area) to purchase 1,000 Love Local tote bags that will be available at select retail businesses in Brighton to customers who make a purchase of $30,” Birch said.
A full list of participating businesses is available on the municipality’s website.
“Through the tote bag part of this initiative, we are working with local businesses to track purchases which will give us a general figure of the economic impact the Love Local Week has on Brighton’s economy,” Birch added.
In addition to Love Local Week, the municipality also earlier introduced a social media campaign to promote buying locally.
“We started with a digital awareness campaign through social media to raise awareness of the Brighton businesses that make or carry products that are either local or Canadian.”
That evolved into the creation of a Facebook group called “Made in Canada, Bought in Brighton.” It serves as a space for residents and businesses to share products they’ve found in Brighton that are made in Canada, and the group has grown to more than 300 members.
“We came up with the idea for the campaign right after the initial tariffs were announced back in February,” Birch said. “We knew that there would be a lot of uncertainty amongst our businesses and residents and wanted to create a way that we could focus those uncertain feelings into action that benefited our local businesses.”
Birch said the municipality hopes that through both the digital campaign and Love Local Week, residents become more aware of the opportunities they have to purchase local and Canadian goods from small and local businesses in Brighton and that “they use their power as consumers to support these local establishments.”
She also hopes local businesses feel supported by the community as they continue to navigate the uncertainty of the current economic landscape.
On a broader scale, Northumberland County announced earlier this year the launch of a 33-member coalition poised to promote and bolster the local economy amidst growing economic challenges due to the ongoing tensions around international trade.
The coalition is comprised of 33 Northumberland businesses, associations, municipalities, and community members. Called “Prosper in Northumberland,” the endeavour is a collaborative initiative intended to champion local businesses, strengthen the economy, “and stand proudly behind local goods and services,” a media release from Northumberland County noted.
Prosper in Northumberland encompasses a commitment to making purchases locally, investing in homegrown businesses, and, ultimately, supporting the livelihoods of fellow Northumberland residents through these actions.
Kate Campbell, Northumberland County’s director of communications, told kawarthaNOW the impetus for the coalition stems from meetings of municipal CAOs and economic development officers in all seven municipalities held earlier this winter. They gathered in February to develop a coordinated response to the recent trade developments, particularly the U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian goods that were introduced earlier in March.
