Kudos to the Chamber of Commerce for the recent Taste of Crenshaw County event.

The event put the spotlight on local restaurants, giving those in attendance an opportunity to sample menu items.

While the majority of us frequent the businesses, it was a nice way to showcase their wares, while fellowshipping with other business people.

Events like these are a great way to promote the local businesses that are the cornerstone of our communities.

The Chamber has launched a campaign to encourage local residents to shop locally, and we stand behind the organization 100 percent.

While many may feel shopping locally is an obligation, there is also pride that comes with shopping locally.

These businesses, whether retail shops, restaurants or services, invest their time and money into the community, and we should all strive to be local patrons.

We’re talking more than just an obligatory every-once-and-a-while purchase. We’re talking making it a habit to consider whether the products we need can be purchased locally and following through with those purchases.

There is an abundance of benefits to shopping at home.

When we choose to shop locally, we are putting our taxes to good use, while building up the tax base for both our cities and the county. This, in turn, provides better opportunities for our children and gives our local governments more money in which to improve our communities.

When we travel out of town, our tax money goes to other communities.

So, when we spend at home, we are making investments in our communities and strengthening our local economy.

Since many local businesses purchase needed items from other local merchants, it helps preserve the economy.

Also consider that most mom-and-pop stores are the ones who donate to fundraising efforts from local benefits to football and beauty pageant programs.

Let’s not forget that nationally, small businesses account for one of the largest employers.

Local employees can create better customer service on a multitude of fronts, including more one-on-one time.

Besides, who really wants to spend an hour driving to a big box store?

We don’t. So, in your weekend plans, we encourage you to put your money where your heart is and shop locally and help build our local economy.