`BUY LOCAL': SCOTT CITY FBLA CONTENDS WHERE YOU SHOP COUNTS

SCOTT CITY -- Jennifer Bertrand hopes to teach her fellow high school students that it's not how they shop that's important, it's where they shop.

"I think when people decide to buy something, they just assume they'll go to Cape to get it," said Bertrand, a senior at Scott City High School. "They don't realize they're taking away from Scott City."

What they're taking away, she said, is a portion of the city's sales tax income.

Bertrand is president of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) at the high school, which is sponsoring Buy Local Week along with the Scott City Chamber of Commerce.

The Buy Local campaign begins today. It's an attempt to increase business in the town by offering discounts and other incentives to shop locally.

A coupon book was compiled by the students using donations from Scott City businesses and can be used at participating businesses this week.

"This is the first year we've attempted something like this," Bertrand said. "I think it will give us a better understanding of how business works."

FBLA sponsor and business teacher Pat Andrews said she hopes the coupon booklets will be an incentive for people to stay in town to shop. About 2,000 books were printed.

She said students and residents probably don't think about the sales tax they generate when they go out of town to shop.

"We want to make people aware that when they go out of town to shop, they are taking tax dollars out of the city," Andrews said. When people leave town to shop, most often they go to Cape Girardeau, she said.

"Many people work in Cape and pick up what they need there on their way home," she said. "We want to see what happens if they stop doing that for a week."

At the end of the week, the amount of sales tax generated will be compared to what was generated during weeks before the Buy Local campaign.

An increase would underscore how supporting local stores can help the city financially, Andrews said. Another reason is to give local businesses which constantly struggle to compete with larger stores in Cape Girardeau a boost.

"We're being realistic," she said. "We know there are some things people will go to Cape Girardeau to buy. But we'd like to start a habit so that whenever possible, people will stay in town to shop. And the coupon books are making it real affordable."

Students began working on the campaign weeks ago. They first sent letters to local businesses ask~ing for them to be included in the coupon book. Several businesses donated money for printing costs, Andrews said, but students designed and distributed the coupon books.

Andrews said though it may be slightly unusual for teenagers to take an interest in their town's economy, it is a lesson worth learning.

"Some of them will stay in this city when they get out of school. Hopefully this will impress upon them that they benefit from those sales tax dollars that are generated in town," she said.

Buy Local Week coincides with national FBLA week, Andrews said. Coupon books are available at the high school.