Over the next year, Wright City business leaders will team up with city hall to shine a positive spotlight on community stores and services.

Starting this month, Wright City’s “Support Local” campaign will offer special activities, deals and useful information about local businesses, said Kelly Hill, one of the campaign organizers. The initiative will be a joint effort between the Wright City Chamber of Commerce and the city government.

A kickoff event Nov. 30 will encourage local residents to visit participating locations around town, who will each offer a special activity or sale that day, Hill said. There will also be a chance to win a basket of gift cards.

Hill said she hopes people will have positive engagement with the businesses that give back to their town.

“The whole purpose of the campaign is to try to get residents familiar with the businesses located in their community, and stress the importance of supporting those businesses,” Hill said. “It’s the small businesses that give money back to the school district, that support the local ball teams, that help the nonprofits.”

The campaign won’t just be focused on retail. Hill said over the next year, there will be more periodic events to draw attention to any service, restaurant or store that calls Wright City home. 

Even local churches will participate in Support Local, because Wright City residents are driving down Interstate 70 even for places to worship, Hill said.

“When you get to talking to folks, you find that a lot of them ... just don’t know what is around them. They never stop to look,” Hill observed. “Our whole motto is we want you to eat, shop, pray and play locally.”

Hill operates the Shelter insurance office in Wright City, and is a longtime member of the Chamber of Commerce. She said the Chamber and the city have agreed to share costs for the Support Local campaign.

Part of the initiative will be educating residents about what their local businesses offer compared to bigger competitors in Warrenton and Wentzville. Hill said there’s an important convenience factor most people think about to have what they need just a few minutes away.

Wright City Mayor Dan Rowden said by supporting local businesses, residents are helping their entire community.

“It’s a benefit to the city as a whole, because it helps bring more business to the community, and it generates more revenue because we’ll have more sales tax,” Rowden said.

Local towns rely on sales taxes to provide many public services, such as road maintenance, parks and police departments.

Beyond sharing the cost for the Support Local campaign, Rowden said the city will help promote events and share information about participating businesses. The city has a Facebook page and provides informational packets to new residents.

To measure the success of the campaign, Rowden said the city will look for any change in sales tax income, and seek feedback from businesses on whether they’re seeing positive results.

“The ultimate goal is to help grow businesses in the community,” he commented. “We still have a lot of people in the community that travel either to Warrenton or Wentzville to shop.”