High Country Local First

The Article High Country Local First by The Mast Farm Inn •

High Country Local First • The Mast Farm Inn is honored to be a member of High Country Local First. Our members consist of independent, locally-owned businesses, farms and organizations as well as individuals that are committed to the High Country region of North Carolina, its unique identity and quality of life.

High Country Local First strives to facilitate healthy, ongoing relationships amongst these key players in our community so that we can become supportive of one another’s efforts and to keep more of our money here in the High Country. We provide creative and effective marketing for businesses through our website and directory, resource sharing and learning, peer to peer consulting, community network building opportunities and other services to facilitate strong locally owned businesses and to encourage new ventures within our community. Right here in the High Country there is an abundance of healthy businesses and farms that are owned locally and that contribute to the well-being of our community. If we can all make the choice to think locally first, before spending, we can keep more money circulating through our very own community.

Our mission is to catalyze and strengthen the local economy through social entrepreneurship and locally driven collaborative structures.

Where did the idea of “Local First” come from? We are part of a network of local business networks across the country, called Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) is North America’s fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses, comprised of over 80 community networks representing 22,000 independent business members across 30 U.S. States and Canadian provinces. BALLE networks create local living economies through the building blocks of independent retail, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, green building, local zero-waste manufacturing, community capital, independent media, and local arts and culture.” You can visit their website at www.livingeconomies.org to learn more.

Local business owners tend to participate in the community, donate more generously to non-profits and take good care of their customers. By strengthening our support of locally owned businesses, we promote more meaningful relationships between the business owners, employees, customers and neighbors.

Michael H. Shuman, author of Going Local writes, "Going local does not mean walling off the outside world. It means nurturing locally owned businesses which use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages and serve primarily local consumers. It means becoming more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports. Control moves from the boardrooms of distant corporations and back into the community where it belongs."

"The Local First! Rewards Card is an initiative designed to connect and support many elements of the High Country community: our schools, our charitable organizations, our hard working local business owners, and our local economy. Shopping at local businesses keeps more money circulating in our local economy and strengthens the unique character of the High Country." Local First! Rewards Cards can be purchased beginning June 1 at Stick Boy Bread Company or Art Mart, or by visiting www.highcountrylocalfirst.org/rewardscard, and will be valid until June 1, 2013.

For More Information
FaceBook • www.facebook.com/pages/High-Country-Local-First/139882782747107
WebSite • www.highcountrylocalfirst.org
Source & Photo Credits • www.highcountrylocalfirst.org

Make Your Own History at The Mast Farm Inn
Historic Farmhouse, Cottage & Cabin Lodging, Invigorating Retreats & Workshops, Memorable Elopements, Weddings & Honeymoons • The Mast Farm Inn is an award-winning Historic Hotels of America® boutique hotel, and Select Registry® country inn, specializing in historic lodging, weddings, elopements, honeymoons, retreats and workshops, in Historic Valle Crucis, North Carolina. The Mast Farm Inn is on the National Register of Historic Places, as is the entire historic district of Valle Crucis in which it is located; a world-renowned rural mountain village, in the western North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway mountains.
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