Forestdale Farm, a Flagstaff-based regenerative farm, is reducing energy costs and strengthening long-term resilience by installing a solar array with support from Local First Arizona. Through the Green Business Boot Camp, a federal REAP grant and a low-interest bridge loan, farm owner Rylan Morton-Starner is replacing costly generator fuel with clean energy — lowering expenses, eliminating emissions and gaining greater control over operating costs at a critical moment for rural food producers.

Arizona’s landscapes tell our story — from desert trails and riverbanks to neighborhood parks and small-town main streets. Keeping those places clean, healthy and accessible doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because communities show up to help clean up.

That’s where Keep Arizona Beautiful comes in.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) play a critical role in filling gaps left by conventional banks, particularly in rural, tribal, and historically underbanked communities — many of the same places Local First focuses its work. When CDFIs are supported, small businesses can launch, grow and serve their communities. When they’re under threat, the ripple effects are immediate — and deeply personal.

Last minute doesn’t mean no thought. It just means the calendar is running at a faster pace than you can keep up with, and that’s okay, because there are so many ways to keep your gift giving local even as time runs out. If you still have some shopping to do, and even if you haven’t even started yet, we have some judgement-free options on how to keep your holiday spending local while completing your last-minute list. 

It takes effort to find the perfect gift for someone. That’s why it would be nice if the gift had a little staying power, too. If the gift itself could give or somehow give back. When you shop locally, you’re already checking one “give back” box by keeping money in the local economy.

And when you shop locally at a business that reinvests its profits in people, the planet or the community, you’re making sure you’re giving gifts with even more impact. If this is the way you’re approaching your holiday shopping season, you’re in luck, because Arizona is a hotspot for mission-driven businesses that are creating social, environmental or cultural ripples with every sale. 

If you’re looking to gift like you mean it this year, by wrapping up gifts that create a lasting impact, here are a few local options you might want to consider. 

Buying local keeps money circulating in Arizona and strengthens communities from Bisbee to Flagstaff. Here are five easy ways to make your holiday shopping meaningful, memorable and 100% Arizona.

Holiday shopping shouldn’t feel like a sprint through corporate sameness. This year, skip the predictable and give local. Shopping with personality types in mind makes your gifts unforgettable, and every purchase from an Arizona-owned business keeps more money right here at home, fueling jobs, creativity and community. Here’s how to shop local, letting your recipients’ personalities be your guide.

The holidays are here, and while most of us are thinking about gifts and celebrations, Local First is also focused on fairness. Because the movement to “shop local” isn’t just about warm fuzzies — it’s about leveling a playing field that’s long been tilted against small businesses.

Founded in 1888 as Arizona’s first community college, Eastern Arizona College (EAC) has been helping students achieve their dreams for more than a century. But it’s the institution’s long-standing commitment to community-driven economic development that made it the venue of choice for organizers of the 2025 Rural Policy Forum.

At Local First, we’ve always believed that the success of locally owned businesses creates a strong and thriving Arizona economy. But one of the biggest challenges for local entrepreneurs has long been access to capital — especially in Arizona, where community banking resources are limited. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to break down financial barriers and build new pathways for funding that empower business owners to grow, hire and create a lasting impact on Arizona’s communities.

The Friends of the Verde River’s River-Friendly Living grants program awards residential, commercial and agricultural grants to assist eligible grantees with implementing projects that improve water conservation efforts.

A rural school district in northern Arizona will save hundreds of thousands of dollars by using a federal grant to purchase an electric bus for its students. The district plans to use the savings to make improvements on campus.

Every few months, a group of Phoenix-area philanthropists gathers to share ideas, exchange referrals, celebrate successes, discuss opportunities, and address challenges in supporting community-focused organizations and individuals across rural Arizona.

Known as the Rural Funders Network, the group’s initiatives are facilitated by Local First Arizona, which has been designated as the state’s Rural Development Council. 

The Pascua Yaqui Development Corporation is creating good-paying jobs with a new construction training center funded by a $4 million federal grant.

Local First Arizona helped the corporation apply for the grant through its Arizona Economic Resource Center.

As the Cholla Power Plant prepares to close in northeastern Arizona, residents in nearby Joseph City are reimagining a post-coal economy.

The rural community is using federal money to explore renewable energy and other sources of jobs to preserve the hometown residents want to stay in.

The Bisbee Science Exploration & Research Center is reimagining eight acres of vacant school district land to create a first-of-its-kind, scientific learning center for children. A $150,000 federal grant is helping with planning and design.

The boom-and-bust copper community of Superior is using federal funding to strengthen its economy by cleaning up and flipping abandoned properties.

The nonprofit Rebuild Superior Inc. wants to build a revitalized, diversified community—whether or not big mining returns.

A federal grant is helping Gila County protect rural towns like Superior, Globe and Miami from the growing risk of flash floods after a trio of wildfires caused damage to the landscape.

The county will map the likely routes of post-wildfire flooding and mudslides using $250,000 from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.