Helping to support your local businesses is important not only for the health of the community, but also to keep sales tax dollars local. To this end the Town of Oro Valley launched its Oro Valley Cash Mob program which picks a different business each month to “mob”. Based on the idea of a dance flash mob, the Oro Valley Cash Mob is a spur of the moment gathering of individuals who then spend at least $15.00 at the business chosen for that month. Started on March 21st of 2013 the Cash Mob has since visited three local businesses, including Artisan Chocolates on its initial event and Cost Plus World Market in April. After shopping, the individuals comprising the mob congregate at a local restaurant to chat about the event, meet other local residents who’ve participated, and in turn help patronize even another local business.
Shopping local is a tremendous benefit to the community by helping make local businesses succeed. Also, local sales taxes are a major source of revenue for the town which doesn’t have an income tax. Sales tax collections in fiscal year 2011/2012 were about $11.5 million, 100% of which stayed in Oro Valley to fund public safety, new parks & trails, and other public services. Even if you can’t attend a particular event some of the selected retailers do have online shopping capabilities so you can shop from home. Each participant showing up also receives a free Shop OV bag.
The next Cash Mob event is scheduled for June 20th at 4:00pm. The location of the “mob” is kept a secret until noon on the day of the event. To participate you can follow the news on Twitter @OVCashMob, follow the Oro Valley Facebook page, get Twitter feed text updates by texting “Follow OVCashMob to 40404, or finally subscribe through email.
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