“Buy Local, Shop Smart” Meeting with Northvale Mayor Paul Bazela
by kace
Posted on August 5, 2011
On Thursday, August 4, 2011, KAVC (Korean American Voters’ Council) interns met with Northvale Mayor Paul Bazela to introduce their “Buy Local, Shop Smart” campaign.
[Presenting the project to Mayor Paul Bazela] [From left to right: Jisoo Park (Bergen County Academies), Ji-Sung Kim (Bergen County Academies), Albert Kim (Bergen County Academies), and Jaewoo Jung (Paramus HS)]
The “Buy Local, Shop Smart” campaign aims to educate consumers on the importance of supporting local businesses using research done by KAVC interns and organizations throughout the United States. Multiple studies indicate that when a consumer shifts 10% of his economic spending from chain stores to local stores, the economic impact on the community is increased three times. In other words, $100 spent at a chain store translates into about $13 remaining in the local economy, whereas $100 at a local business translates into approximately $45 staying in the economy.
By educating the public about this coalition through this way, consumers will be able to learn that there are numerous benefits from shopping locally such as an increase in job opportunities and revenue recirculation inside the local economy.
Northvale Mayor Paul Bazela recognized the interns’ efforts in trying to revitalize the local economy and stated his enthusiasm for the project. He agreed to support the initiative and cooperate with the campaign, stating that he would like to assist by talking to the Chamber of Commerce and other councilmen and mayors of other towns as well. Furthermore, he praised the interns on their initiative, emphasizing the necessity for such grassroots projects to revitalize the local economy.
Additionally, he voiced his concern that even though the number of Korean-Americans residing in Northvale is on the rise, many fail to integrate with the rest of the town of Northvale. Therefore, he stressed the necessity of Korean-American residents’ participation in the local government and registering to vote in order to ensure that their voice will be heard in the community. Also, the mayor sent the message to the Korean American community that “Korean-American community, as well as the Chinese-American, Italian-American, etc, are all on the same boat now, and we must all work together to save the economy”.
The meeting at Northvale was the second of several meetings with politicians arranged by KAVC interns in New Jersey for this summer.
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