Economy
How to Design a 'Buy Local' Campaign That Actually Works
After job loss and the Recession crippled an Ohio town, 2 young residents got to work resurrecting the town's small business core.
When Mark Rembert and Taylor Stuckert left Wilmington, Ohio, for college, they didn’t think they’d be back. “When you grow up in a small town, the conversation, the discourse is—I want to get out of here,” Stuckert says. They both joined the Peace Corps after graduation, accepting positions in South America.
But then the largest employer in seven southwest Ohio counties ceased its local operations, and the 2008 financial crisis hit. Forget the Peace Corps—there was development work to do at home. Rembert and Stuckert came back and founded a nonprofit called Energize Clinton County. In the years since, they’ve learned that strengthening community ties can help get a small town back on its feet.