Lakewood is a prime community in Northeast Ohio for people making creative arrangements, moral commitments and smart purchases to preserve and strengthen the city’s economy through buy local initiatives. The organization of local consumers and local businesses into green exchange circuits that offer ethical choice and moral value make visible the “Invisible Hand” of the free market.

As the community cultivates a moral compass and recognizes the effects of lost cash flow on Lakewood’s one-of-a-kind signature businesses, people search for new ways to enhance their economic impact on the city. By creating green exchange circuits that link economical and ethical interests to more a locally determined value-added purchasing strategy, people integrate civic responsibility, convenient consumption and social solidarity into the neighborhood’s quality of life.

Julie Hutchison, owner of Phoenix Coffee on Detroit Avenue, sees Lakewood’s “green edge” in its resale shops and the thick social mix that meets in third places and buys local.

From Lakewood Is Art and the Madison Avenue Art Walk to the LEAF’s community supported agriculture programs and MAMA’s injection of vitality along Madison Avenue, people in Lakewood are attempting to bring a renewed and determined buy local dynamic to daily life. Through these grassroots efforts, the circulation of dollars in the community joins the palpable expression of neighborhood commitment and appreciation for one-of-a-kind businesses integral to Lakewood’s distinctively green character.

For the holidays, LakewoodAlive and Main Street Lakewood are advancing the “buy local” with the inclusion of Lakewood CertifiChecks gift certificates in the Light Up Lakewood event scheduled for November 30th.

“Lakewood CertifiChecks will be redeemable only at Lakewood businesses. They can be used at full face value at merchants who have registered with the program,” says Mary Anne Crampton, Executive Director, Lakewood Community Progress Inc., Main Street Lakewood.

Crampton sees the CertifiChecks gift certificates in combination with the convenience, cordiality and quality offered by local enterprises making for a great Lakewood experience.

“More than 150 Lakewood businesses are already signed-up and we expect the list to grow as Lakewoodites demonstrate their support of local businesses by buying, giving and using Lakewood CertifiCheck gift certificates,” says Crampton.