This Saturday, October 4th, residents are
encouraged to “Shop Illinois” by devoting a portion of their budget to
purchasing local Illinois-made products. Shoppers are asked to take the “Buy Illinois”
challenge, which calls Illinois residents to devote $10 of their weekly budget
to purchasing Illinois-made products.
Participating Illinois businesses will be listed on a new
website, www.buyillinoischallenge.com.
Consumers who “Shop Illinois Saturday” at any of these participating locations
will qualify to receive special discounts. The program seeks to boost the
Illinois economy, while raising awareness and supporting local businesses
throughout the state.
If every Illinois household dedicated just $10 of their
existing, weekly budget towards the purchase of Illinois food products, the
Dept. of Ag concluded more than $47 million would be generated for the Illinois
economic in just one month—that’s $2.4 billion a year that would be re-invested
in the Illinois economy that would benefit both rural and urban communities.
The idea came from Illinois Main Street and the Illinois
Department of Agriculture (IDOA) as an extension of their current Illinois
Products Program. Buy Illinois extends the program by partnering with six
Illinois Main Street Communities – Springfield, Carbondale, Alton, Genoa,
Pontiac and Canton.
This promotion is unique in that it allows locally owned
businesses of all types to participate, not just agribusiness and Illinois food
companies.