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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>Family Fun at Buy
Local Moscow PrizeCard Kick-Off</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>Free family fun will fill Moscow's Friendship Square at the Buy Local
Moscow </SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>PrizeCard Kick-Off on Thursday, October 15, beginning at 5pm.
Admission to the event, children's activities, and live music from the
Sesitshaya Marimba Band will all be free.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>The festival will
launch Buy Local Moscow's PrizeCard shopping game. At the Kick-Off and by
visiting participating locally-owned businesses, shoppers can pick-up their own
PrizeCards and begin gathering stamps on those PrizeCards. After gathering
stamps from a dozen local businesses, shoppers can then redeem those cards for
the initial prize of a Buy Local Moscow reusable shopping bag. Then all the
redeemed PrizeCards will be entered in the grand prize drawing on December 10.
The 5 grand prizes each contain $300 in gifts from Buy Local Moscow
merchants.</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>As part of the Kick-Off fun, participating downtown merchants will be
staying open late that night, offering sales and refreshments. The downtown
gallery, 2 Degrees Northwest, will sponsor an opening reception for watercolor
artist</SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN lang=en-US>
Victor Andres of Moscow from 5pm to 8pm.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>In Friendship
Square, the free children's activities will include harvest-themed events like
apple-bobbing and grape-stomping and will be coordinated by Whitepine Montessori
School staff.</FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>More than 100 locally-owned independent Moscow businesses have joined
Buy Local Moscow since the organization was formed in 2006. The PrizeCard
promotion is funded by the participating merchants with grant support of $1,500
from </SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN lang=en-US>Buy
Local Moscow members Tri-State, the Moscow Food Co-op, and NRS.
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">The mission of Buy Local Moscow is to showcase and
to support the locally-owned independent businesses of the community. More
information is on the <FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN lang=en-US>website,
www.buylocalmoscow.com</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>Recent research shows that locally-owned independent businesses form
the core of a sustainable community. Moscow continues to be a vibrant community
because these businesses reinvest their profits locally, donate consistently to
local programs, maintain diverse product choices, and strengthen Moscow’s unique
character. I</SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>ncreasing sales at locally-owned businesses keeps more money
circulating within the community (the money does not flow to corporate
administrators and stockholders, but instead is spent for local products and
services), and increases the number of jobs available to local residents.
</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>Here are just two examples of that research. In a 2008 study of the
Grand Rapids, Michigan, area, (</SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000080><U><A
href="http://www.civiceconomics.com/localworks/"><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>http://www.civiceconomics.com/localworks/</SPAN></FONT></A></U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN lang=en-US>), researchers discovered that if
just 10% of the purchases by the 600,000 local residents shifted from corporate
or franchise retailers to independent businesses that 1,614 new jobs would be
created. In a 2003 study from Maine (</SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT
color=#000080><U><A href="http://newrules.org/retail/midcoaststudy.pdf"><FONT
size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>http://newrules.org/retail/midcoaststudy.pdf</SPAN></FONT></A></U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN lang=en-US> ), researchers found that three
times as many dollars spent in locally-owned businesses circulated within the
community in comparison with dollars spent at corporate retailers. The same
study showed that local businesses donated four times as much to local charities
as corporate retailers. Many other similar studies, as well as books and
magazine articles on this topic, are available through the American Independent
Business Alliance (</SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000080><U><A
href="http://www.amiba.net/"><FONT size=3><SPAN
lang=en-US>http://www.amiba.net/</SPAN></FONT></A></U></FONT><FONT
color=#000000><FONT size=3><SPAN lang=en-US> ).</SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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