10/05/2023
Letter from Lauren V. Davis
(President of Winnebago Buy Local)
Dear Winnebago Buy Local Member,
Winnebago Buy Local began in 2010 with an idea and a round table of local business owners back when no one was talking about the importance of local businesses. Through the years it became such a deep rooted passion of mine and others and that passion hasn’t gone away, not even a morsel of it has left me.
As we grew and developed I saw how we made a positive impact on local business owners and the community. We saw businesses live to see another year, and then 10 more years. We saw the community rally around events to help raise awareness of buying local. We saw the way Rockford and Winnebago County showed up. Now it is time to pass the torch as we take an indefinite pause.
Although it was a majority decision, it was still a hard one to make as a board. We all agreed on one thing. We exceeded our mission year after year again to the extent of our grassroots resources, and we love our community, love our local businesses, and our passion hasn’t changed. We all believe there is more work to be done and none of us feel like the mission is over.
While this might be goodbye to Winnebago Buy Local as you know it right now, we do not feel it is the *end* as much as the beginning and freedom to build new opportunities for local business owners in our community. In all the ways you see local businesses establishing new roots, standing together collaborating, you see that nothing, truly, is going away.
Winnebago County business owners have a grit that cannot be contained or put to rest. What will come in the future will be new and exciting. We can’t wait to see what happens when local business owners put their heads together.
Lastly & Most Importantly
I would like to thank the volunteers who have served throughout the years and particularly the board members past and present who volunteered hours upon hours to the mission of Winnebago Buy Local. This group was built on the backs of volunteers. Every minute of every single thing that happened over 13 years within this organization was volunteer work. Every event. Every opportunity. Every meeting. Without the board members this organization wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything it did. Thank you to our volunteers throughout the years, and to our present board members for the seemingly infinite hours of support:
Jacob Bradt, Joshua Binning, Kate Wirth, Julie Borck, Kristan McNames, Cindy Dimke, Jon Weber, Skyler Davis
I would also like to thank the members of WBL for showing up to every meeting, filling our events, and participating in every way you could even through some of the roughest years in your business, the pandemic, snow storms, heat waves, and more. Winnebago Buy Local doesn’t exist without you, and we recognize that our success is due to how you believe in our mission with us.
We can’t wait to see what you can do!
Sincerely,
Lauren V. Davis
By Kevin Haas Rock River Current Get our mobile app ROCKFORD — A grassroots coalition that has worked for 13 years to encourage shoppers to support local businesses is indefinitely ending its official operations. Winnebago Buy Local
