Where the Locals Go Tours

 

Join our tour guides for a fun and inspiring walking tour of downtown Bloomington.  These tours highlight the history and stories of some of the buildings and local, independent businesses in downtown Bloomington–a great way to get to know our City better!

 Tour Dates:

Ticket price change!  Tickets are now $5 adults, $2 kids with accompanying adult (5 and under are free).  Accompanying parents of new IU students who buy tickets can join the tour for free!

Please reserve tickets ahead of time: www.wherethelocalsgotour.eventbrite.com    by contacting:  una@localfirstindiana.org or 812-334-8903 (ask for Una)

We are also hosting two other tours:

Where the Locals Go Out, a bar tour of Downtown Bloomington

Make Art Local Tour, a day-long tour, visiting 3 Bloomington businesses (plus lunch), where you will create your own work of art.

The Where the Locals Go Tours are a part of Going Local Week, a week of celebration of all things local.  Going Local Week is a springboard for educating the community about the importance of shopping locally and eating local food as a means of supporting the local economy for greater self-reliance, greater health, and a higher quality of living for the entire community.  Events include art openings, concerts, business specials, local food specials in restaurants, various fundraisers for other local nonprofits, etc.  We encourage our community to get out and do something local every day.

Buy Local Program for State Agencies Good for Local Economies

By Una Winterman, Director, Local First Indiana

A recent change in Indiana state law enables state agencies to favor companies that employ local citizens and contribute to local economies.

It is called the “Buy Local Program,” though it doesn’t necessarily limit state agencies to contracts with local businesses.  The formula was recently changed with the attempt to give Indiana businesses a competitive edge over out-of-state companies for state contracts and purchases.  This change has great potential, not only to give local, independent businesses an edge, but also to encourage businesses to consider the impact on the local economy in which they operate.

At least 25 major U.S. cities have local preferences on their books, with several states enacting laws that cover the whole state, as Indiana has done.  Economist Michael Shuman, calls it “smart procurement” and emphasizes impact over ownership, in this particular case.  While we can’t ignore the importance of ownership, the discriminatory nature of outright favoritism can create challenges that can cause problems down the line, such as corruption and unnecessarily higher prices.

This being said, Arizona pushed through their state law favoring local business after learning via an economic impact study that the state could save money by buying office supply products from a local business despite an initially slightly higher price.  This particular office supply store worked hard to keep their own money local and therefore more of the money that goes through that company stays in the state of Arizona.  The study found that when a state agency buys items through a local business with a high economic impact, more money circulates in the economy.  The state itself becomes an agent of economic development, simply by purchasing office products.

The new changes to the Indiana law on procurement could be improved by adding an economic assessment requirement.  An economic assessment could measure the impact of the purchases on other local businesses in the community to ensure businesses with state contracts are doing their part to support other local businesses.  Nevertheless, this change is a positive step forward that supports local business without playing favorites.

Make Art Local Tour Coming in September!

Sign up now!  Space is limited!

Local First Indiana is presenting an Art Tour, a day-long tour, visiting 3 Bloomington businesses, where you will create your own work of art.

 The tour starts at Twisted Limb Paperworks, where participants will learn how to make paper.  After a quick stop for lunch at The Owlery, a new, very tasty vegetarian restaurant, we’ll head over to Collective Press, where participants will print their own images onto the homemade paper.  (Participants should bring their own images to use for cutting their own block.  If they don’t like how it turns out, pre-cut blocks will be on hand to choose from.)  After printing, participants will walk a short block and a half to Reframe to choose a frame and put it together.  Your art will be ready for the wall by the time you get home!  This particular piece of art will be infused with your own experience of making it and with the three remarkable business owners who will walk you through the process.  A Tour leader from Local First Indiana will also be there to help guide participants from one business to the next.

 This tour will be a walking tour, so participants should be prepared with good walking shoes and ready for the weather.  All the businesses are located either on the B-Line or near the B-Line, so the walking should be pretty easy.

**Note:  This tour must sell at least 8 tickets by September 3 in order to run the tour.  If we don’t reach 8 participants, we will notify you and issue refunds. 

Information about the businesses: