Fall and winter are busy times for all of us. Between year-end bookkeeping, social (distance) engagements, busy storefront hours, and personal holiday shopping, it's no wonder these months fly by. And this year is no exception - plus we have the added stress of rapidly changing safety precautions. It's enough to overwhelm anyone. But it doesn't have to be when we take advantage of our community resources! 

The Local First team has been dreaming and scheming of the day we could build a more robust and modern localfirst.com to champion our local business members across West Michigan. After lots of hard work and feedback, it’s finally here!

Food naturally brings people together. Whether it’s making a meal, supporting a farmer, sharing a recipe, or celebrating a special occasion: food is communal. This is what we celebrate at our Fork Fest events. These events showcase West Michigan's agricultural abundance and focus on the relationships that drive our local food systems.

For many small businesses, the Coronavirus pandemic has thrown any marketing plans you had out the window -- but that doesn’t mean you should just give up. Marketing through the pandemic remains a priority in your operations as we evolve through the good, the bad, and these challenging times. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Independents Week: June 27 to July 4

Locally-owned, independent businesses are the backbone of our community. And they need us more than ever right now. Help us celebrate them during Independents Week!

Local First’s Board of Directors held a town hall-style event with member businesses on Friday, June 12 to discuss the role West Michigan’s local economy plays in systemic racism: as an enabler and as a catalyst for change. Vice-Chair of the Local First Educational Foundation and moderator, Tarence Lauchie of T. Lauchie & Associates, asked participants to think about their:

Thank you for joining the Membership Team for Part II of our marketing webinar series! Kathleen Roark and Katherine Jandernoa were joined by the following panelists to discuss why marketing matters and how to approach it during a pandemic:

After 17 years of producing regional local food directories, the team at Taste the Local Difference is proud to debut our 2020 Local Food Guide, a beautiful farm-centric magazine covering the entire state of Michigan. For those of you that don’t know us, we are Michigan’s Local Food Marketing Firm. We provide affordable marketing services to family farms, restaurants, farmers' markets, breweries, wineries, cheesemakers, and so many other small businesses in our great state. It’s our mission to promote their passionate, hard work and make it easy for consumers to seek out these local businesses. This Local Food Guide is just one of the ways we do that—  it’s filled with delicious seasonal recipes, stories of local food champions, and directories for how to find local food in your community. 

Thank you for joining the Membership Team for Local First’s marketing webinar! Kathleen Roark and Katherine Jandernoa were joined by the following panelists to discuss why marketing matters and how to approach it during a pandemic:

If you haven't seen gr_support_local yet, it's time to give it a whirl. It's an easy-to-view list of local businesses and what they're offering during the Shelter in Place order. We LOVE it and wanted to get to know the person who got it up and running.