Staff Writer

Sustainable seems to have bloomed into successful for Buy Local Scarborough, an organization that celebrated its growth at a Pine Point gathering Tuesday night.

With more than 100 businesses participating in a campaign that includes a Web site and buying guide, Scarborough Town Councilor and campaign organizer Karen D’Andrea said a discount card for participating businesses will be unveiled next month.

The roots of Buy Local Scarborough were laid last summer, D’Andrea said, as she began meeting with local business owners to work out strategies to endure the recession.

According to a survey by the nonprofit organization, Institute for Local Self Reliance, $45 of every $100 spent at local independently owned business stays in the community as opposed to $14 of every $100 spent at a large national franchise.

Last summer, D’Andrea said the buy local campaign drew interest from owners of about 50 businesses. By November, about 80 businesses were ready to pay a $50 annual membership fee to join the campaign, she said.

Local nonprofits can join Buy Local Scarborough for a $25 annual fee. When joining, businesses and nonprofits are listed on the Buy Local Scarborough Web site, get discounts for doing business with other participating businesses and use of the campaign logo when promoting themselves.

As Buy Local Scarborough celebrated with an inaugural dinner, committee treasurer Dave Hopkinson estimated 105 business owners have joined to help market themselves to customers and each other.

D’Andrea defined a local business as one where owners live in the area and make 100 percent of business decisions themselves.

Hopkinson owns Henry VIII Carvery franchise in Gateway at Scarborough, the shopping area anchored by outdoor outfitter Cabela’s.

A supporter of the buy local campaign from the start, Hopkinson said letting local buyers know that six of eight businesses in Gateway at Scarborough are locally owned is critical, even as he chose the shopping center to open his franchise because of customers Cabela’s attracts.

The 105 businesses participating in Buy Local Scarborough span the gamut of retail and other services and include photographers, marketing firms, commercial printers and The Landing, an event and reception hall on Pine Point Road where the celebration was held.

“I’m only surprised the idea did not get generated sooner,” Hopkinson said of the Buy Local campaign.

Since it began, the guide for participating businesses has been reprinted and now is headed to a third edition. D’Andrea said the Buy Local Scarborough campaign will unveil a consumer card patterned after the Dine Around Portland restaurant card next month.

For $10, D’Andrea said customers may buy the card and then use it to get special offers on goods or services at participating businesses.

Gary Conover, owner of Computer Works, said the campaign also has opened doors for business-to-business commerce for him.

“There are some people here we basically didn’t know existed,” he said, although he has been in business for 12 years.

To learn more about Scarborough Buy Local, visit www.buylocalscarborough.org or call 831-9568.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219