Make a Local Difference and Support Arizona
Our mission at Local First Arizona is to help make a difference in the lives of not only the small business owners, but all Arizonans. This is why so many of our programs are built with social justice, sustainability, and building a stronger Arizona in mind. For week two of Indie Week XXL, we are inviting you to join us in “Making a Local Difference!” There are so many ways to get involved in making Arizona a better place, with your dollars and with your voice, and in the process you will feel closer to your community and prouder of your state.
At No Cost: Moving Your Money, Completing the Census, Signing the Unity Pledge
YOU can Make a Local Difference by taking action and moving your money to a local bank or making sure you and your friends and family get counted in the 2020 census by Sept. 30. As of today, Arizona has one of the worst response rates in the country. This means Arizona doesn’t get its fair share of federal dollars for education, infrastructure and low-income communities.
If you’ve already completed those items you can also make a local difference by supporting businesses that are owned by small business owners of color, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, or veterans. As you learned last month, in our Move Your Money campaign, these groups are traditionally discriminated against economically. By investing your dollars in these businesses, it helps open doors for future business owners of color and helps build a more diverse Arizona.
Guilt free chocolate chunk cookies from the woman-owned PhytoNutrient House! Made with monk fruit and coconut flour.
Supporting LGBTQ+ Owned Businesses
In Arizona, it is still not illegal to fire someone, deny them housing, or refuse them service simply for who they are or who they love. You can help support LGBTQ+ businesses and by signing the unity pledge — the largest equality pledge in the nation- here. You can also find local LGBTQ-owned businesses to support at https://directory.onecommunity.co/listing/
Shop from a Woman-Owned Business
When you support women-owned businesses, you support gender equality and the economic empowerment of women. You can check out these and more women owned businesses at https://directory.localfirstaz.com/listing/women-owned.
The PhytoNutrient House is a holistic wellness center where you can get just about anything there that is designed to make you feel better.
For those who recently started a business or who need some branding, design or social help, visit Miss Details.
Shop at a Green Business
Meet Apryl, the owner and genius behind Dottie Bea’s.
Supporting green business means supporting the planet! You can find more green businesses at https://az.greenbiztracker.org/.
One green business you can check out is Witnessing Nature in Food. They specialize in organic farm to table that are healthy and full of flavor.
If you want to buy your clothing more sustainably you can visit Laura Tanzer. This woman-owned clothing designer sustainably creates their items locally.
Support a BIPOC-Owned Business
Supporting diverse businesses helps our community to become more equitable.
Dottie Bea’s, an organic, vegan, gluten free and kosher sweet shop, and Straw and Wool, a Phoenix hat shop, are great black businesses to check out.
Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture is a wonderful place to learn about traditional agriculture of the Tohono O’odham tribe, food justice and cultural preservation; all are important to making a Local Difference.
You can find more participating businesses on the Local First Directory.