A team of undergraduate students in a Tippie College of Business course, Marketing and Sustainability, will conduct preliminary research and develop recommendations for a buy local campaign in Ottumwa, Iowa. 

The course project will serve as a phase one for the initiative, identifying the challenges and assets in the community that impact local business investment and support. The investigation will prepare the community for a future phase two, where the campaign itself is launched, based on the findings of phase one. 

Problem Statement: As consumer spending increasingly shifts to online retailers, local businesses in Ottumwa face challenges competing with the lower prices and convenience of online shopping. The community seeks strategies to encourage investment in local businesses by highlighting the benefits of shopping locally and creating unique, attractive, and accessible shopping and dining experiences that draw and retain customers.

Potential Deliverables:

• Buy Local Case Studies Guide: Students will research best practices for communities to promote local businesses and identify strategies that have successfully encouraged local purchasing in peer communities.
• Assessment of Conditions and Questions Report: Students will evaluate what barriers to buying locally exist currently and develop a problem statement addressing the challenges at hand. The report will discuss strengths and assets in the community that could be leveraged to support a buy local campaign in the future.
• Preliminary Community Engagement Strategies Design Plan: Students will identify what information would be needed to move forward with an informed, targeted campaign, and design community engagement strategies to gather information. This could include format and questions for a focus group or digital survey. The engagement strategies can be implemented by a future student group or community partners.