Pocatello/Chubbuck buy local initiative

Tom Maydew is the regional director for the Idaho State University Small Business Development Center located at 1651 Alvin Ricken Drive in Pocatello. He can be reached at 208-232-4921.

Afew months back several area small business owners contacted former Mayor Roger Chase looking for help with a serious problem — sales and profits were declining to the point that the businesses were facing closing their doors for good. The mayor sugowners come together to study the situation and come up with solutions. The Business Resource Group was born.

With assistance from the mayor’s office, the first meeting was scheduled. Attendees included many small
business and agency owners and representatives from the Small Business Development Center, Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce, ISU Workforce Training, Old Town Pocatello, and the Bannock Development Corporation.

The group spent a great deal of time over the next few meetings discussing the cause and effect of the problem.Everyone was aware of the tough economic times facing the entire nation, but we decided the situation ran deeper than that for our local business community. Plain and simple, Pocatello and Chubbuck merchants are losing revenues and profits because of continued leakage to the Idaho Falls and Salt Lake City markets and to Internet sales.

So what can be done to keep people shopping locally? The first step is for all Pocatello and Chubbuck businesses to look in the mirror. What causes our local shoppers to stray? Could it be lack of product and service selection, spotty customer service, unattractive and unkempt store appearances, the lack of a solid marketing strategy, or poor merchandising group agreed that many area businesses are simply too casual in their attempts to keep our shoppers at home.

The group has come up with several possible solutions. First, area businesses must clean up their act and stop assuming area shoppers will blindly accept substandard business practices. We have to earn the local shopper’s trust, respect, and their business through consistent effort. We have to provide the buying public with the goods and services they want, stand behind our products, train and motivate our employees to provide exceptional customer service, keep our shops clean and well maintained, communicate with customers to assess their needs, and let consumers know what we offer through an effective marketing campaign.

The perception of many consumers in our area is “we can’t find it in Pocatello or Chubbuck”. Many times that
claim is untrue, but perception is reality. To overcome this, the group is focused on creating a Web site to allow every business in our area to list their contact information and a comprehensive list of the goods and services they provide.

The Business Resource Group is a grassroots effort. To be successful in the long term we need every business to participate. The changes won’t be immediate and will happen over time, but the success of the movement will require hard work and a long-term commitment toward improvement. Consumers must come to understand what is at stake and how shopping outside our area hurts us all. Let’s rededicate ourselves to “Shop Local, Buy Local, and Be Local”.

February 10, 2010