Gloucester County Kicks Off Shop Local Campaign

GLOUCESTER COUNTY, NJ — Gloucester County officials kicked off the county’s 2020 Shop, Dine, Go Local campaign at the Best of Gloucester County Celebration on Monday. The campaign is designed to encourage spending money within the local community to help the local economy thrive.

“This is the ninth year we have held the Shop, Dine and Go Local campaign to support our local small businesses,” Gloucester County Freeholder Director Robert Damminger said. “Local business owners are our neighbors, they employ our neighbors, and they also put their money back into our community.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic took a lot from our local businesses, but they were there to support us and now it’s time to give back,” Gloucester County Freeholder Heather Simmons, liaison to the Department of Economic Development, said. “The Shop, Dine, Go Local campaign is designed to promote and encourage us to support them.”

Simmons said that more than half of Gloucester County’s employers are considered small business.

“Each dollar spent at an independent business returns three times more money to the local economy,” Gloucester County Deputy Freeholder Director Frank J. DiMarco said. “Gloucester County is the home to hundreds of locally owned and operated eateries, breweries, wineries, retail and specialty stores, and we encourage our residents to think of them first when spending their hard-earned dollars.”

The Best of Gloucester County celebration honors the best businesses in the county. The list of the contest’s 137 winners can be found here.

During the celebration, all attendees were asked to take the pledge to shop local. Residents can sign the pledge by visiting http://www.gloucestercountynj.gov/depts/e/ed/slsat.asp.

“Celebrating the Best of Gloucester County winners was an amazing opportunity to see how many small businesses we have in our County,” Gloucester County Freeholder Jim Jefferson said. “With 137 winners, it’s easy to shop local for whatever you may be looking for.”

“We always have an overwhelmingly positive response from our Best of Gloucester County contest and the Shop Local campaign, and we are hopeful this year will be even bigger for our small businesses,” Gloucester County Freeholder Dan Christy said.

The program is a partnership between the Gloucester County Department of Economic Development, the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce, NJ Advance Media and small business owners in the local area.