From Christmas presents to automobiles, the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce and local merchants are urging residents to keep more of their big and small scale purchases in Mower County.

“Whether you’re buying toasters or Toyotas, I think it’s all about retaining sales dollars in Austin because they benefit the community directly,” said Thomas Sherman, president of Usem, Inc.

The Buy Mower/Grow Mower campaign started Aug. 1, 2008, as a way to encourage people to spend their money in Mower County. Even though the chamber’s advertising has changed in the initiative’s second year, Buy Mower/Grow Mower will be a key chamber project for years to come.

Sherman was involved with the chamber when the Buy Mower/Grow Mower program was conceived. One driving factor was a University of Minnesota study that estimated the community’s retail leakage — the amount of money earned in a community compared to the retail dollars spent in a community.

“From my perspective, the origin of the Buy Mower/Grow Mower is really in looking at what happens to our retail sales dollars and seeing that our retention of those retail sales dollars in Austin is way below average — it’s poor,” he said. “The program is meant to address that.”

The rate of retail leakage in Austin was close to 50 percent, Sherman said, which was almost double the rate of comparable communities like Albert Lea, Owatonna and Faribault. Rochester, he said, had no leakage, as they brought money into the community.

“As a retailer, I see it all the time. I hear the comment all the time: I bought a car in Rochester or Minneapolis or someplace else,” Sherman said. “I ask why, and there’s any number of excuses: You didn’t have one on your lot, you were closed when I went buy — there’s a zillion different excuses that people have. But the fact of the matter, there is a very high rate of retail sales outside of our community. So the Buy Mower/Grow Mower program is really directed at trying to bring a lot of those dollars back into our community.”

One common complaint is that businesses in Austin and surrounding communities don’t offer the selection available in larger cities like Rochester or Minneapolis, Sherman said. While that’s true, he said there are still ways for someone to get an item locally.

“I think part of what Buy Mower/Grow Mower is about, too, is making sure that your local merchant gets an opportunity to do business,” Sherman said.

“I think that’s what it’s about, too, is educating consumers to the fact that your local merchant, even if he doesn’t have it on the shelf, can probably get it,” he added.

Sherman used an example of a dishwasher he recently bought through Sears in Austin. While he could have bought the dishwasher that day at a larger store in a city like Rochester, he had to order the item and wait for it to be shipped.

Sherman said he’s faced a similar problem at Usem because he can’t afford to have as many cars on the lot as a car dealer in another town. While a local dealer can order a product if it’s not in stock, Sherman said people often don’t like to wait for that item to be shipped, especially when they could choose an out of town option to get an item sooner.

“Your local merchant will bend over backwards to make sure that they can get whatever the item is, but it might take them a day or two,” he said.

The chamber and retailers don’t expect people to spend all their money in town. However, the program’s Web site states $20 million be added to the local economy if people shifted 10 percent of their money spent out of town to local businesses.

“We don’t expect everybody to spend all their money in town,” said Sandy Forstner, executive director of the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce. “That’s a key component of Buy Mower as we recognize that people do go on vacations, people do go out of town, they eat and shop. We’re asking them, as part of this thing, to switch back 10 percent they currently or had spent out of town.”

Sherman and Forstner said the program has been successful in its first year, even though the program started at a bad time.

“It couldn’t have started in a worse year, obviously,” Sherman said. “We started in the worst economic recession that any of us have experienced.”

While it’s difficult to directly measure the results of such a program, Forstner said he’s seen a jump in retail sales.

“That’s a big one: retail sales are up,” Forstner said. “That’s the best measure.”

Estimated retail sales in August of 2007 were about $20.4 million, and that number increased to about $23 million in August of 2009, according to local option sales tax records. Retail sales have shown general improvements since such records became available in 2007, but a number of factors can drive that increase, not just the Buy Mower/Grow Mower campaign.

Last year, the chamber offered incentives for citizens who pledged to buy locally on www.ibuymower.com through raffles for $50 in chamber bucks and other prizes. While the chamber won’t offer such incentives this year, Forstner stressed that the program is still important.

“When you think of doing business locally, you’re supporting your friends and neighbors,” Forstner said. “You’re helping them stay employed. You’re helping their businesses succeed. You’re helping the organizations that you value and that you’re neighbors value stay here.”

Money spent locally does more than simply sustain a local business. That money stays in the community and cycles through programs and organizations. For example, Forstner said local businesses frequently support the United Way and area sports teams.

“When dollars are spent in town they tend to float around and through town in a variety of ways,” Forstner said. “When they’re spent out of town, they are gone forever, and they help those communities grow rather than our own.”

Businesses have been involved in the program in other ways, as well. Usem recently switched to buying the company’s office supplies through Staples in Austin, rather than online, Sherman said.

Many businesses have posted posters for the program in windows.

Last year, Austin Medical Center gave out some holiday gifts to employees in the form of chamber bucks.

To continue promoting the program, Forstner said the chamber plans to promote Buy Mower/Grow Mower during Christmas in the City and other chamber events. The remaining yearly advertising budget for the project will be used leading up to the holiday season.

While the program goes all year, Forstner said it does take on some added significance during the holiday season. Forstner said they’ll use up the remaining budget for the program and other things during the holiday shopping season.