You’ve probably heard of Dane Buy Local (DBL). Maybe you’ve seen their logo as a sponsor for an event, or you’ve come across their member directory, available free at various locations throughout Dane and contiguous counties. For over 20 years, DBL has been helping small and large local businesses coordinate efforts and resources to create the harmonious local business environment owners and customers enjoy today.
Originally run solely by volunteers, DBL started in 2004 as a program of Wisconsin Partners for Sustainability. It wasn’t until 2008 that DBL would hire its first staff person and then become a standalone nonprofit the following year. In 2013, DBL hired its first full-time executive director, Colin Murray. That year, DBL started working with chambers of commerce and business groups to strengthen the services already provided to their members. Each ensuing year, including through the pandemic, aimed to increase public awareness of DBL’s initiatives and its members.
When Colin retired in 2023, Paula Severson took over the role of executive director and has hit the ground running. Though her first year focused a lot on getting to learn the ropes and DBL members, her work as the director for the Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce gave her an appreciation for how important it is for members to understand the value of their membership as well as for the public to seek opportunities to support the organization’s mission.
“We made a lot of adjustments in terms of what our focus has been,” says Paula. “We were very event focused prior to my time, and we really wanted to put our focus back on the members—making sure members have the tools they need: the connections and resources. Also, just pivoting a lot of our marketing and social media presence. We didn’t have a newsletter to the public, for instance, so we created a newsletter to help educate the public as well as DBL members to things going on and why it’s important to shop local.”
One of DBL’s core values is to be good for the community—something Paula calls “prosperity with a purpose.” When local businesses are successful, that money comes back to the local economy. Many businesses are donating to local nonprofits and sponsoring events and local sports teams, but that’s just scratching the surface. They’re oftentimes investing in the community with their time and energy by volunteering with nonprofits and participating in community events.
“We’re also spending a lot of one-on-one time to make connections within the memberships for collaborations,” says Paula. “We have different things going on. There’s going to be a joint e-recycling, waste shredding. We’re connecting five or six organizations, nonprofits, and companies together. For members, rather than just hosting your own event, bring someone else in and have two or three businesses. Don’t compete for a consumer’s time. Go all together.”
There are also more obvious benefits that come from working together, like “shared resources and shared purchasing,” says Paula. “Amazon can scale, and our small businesses can’t. This resource sharing is already happening to a certain degree with our restaurant members. Rather than a huge order of compostable soup bowls, they’re starting to look at let’s have somewhere we can all go locally to get these and still get the low pricing as if we were a big business.”
Even though businesses share the same customer pool, a common understanding between DBL members is that a rising tide lifts all ships. Financial support from larger members, like Madison Gas and Electric (MGE), allows DBL to help the smaller businesses. As Paula says, “Yes, there are competitors within our membership, but it’s not cutthroat. And it’s never at the expense of another member.” Consumers also reap the benefits of these relationships, as they’re more likely to find what they’re looking for and feel good about their purchase knowing they’re supporting a business that puts community first.
Getting the public involved is something DBL strives for. Not everybody has the financial capacity to shop local, but we can all think local, which lends itself to Paula’s favorite initiative: encouraging everyone to live local.
“That’s one of the biggest changes we’ve made this year is inserting the word ‘live’ instead of ‘shop.’ It’s a holistic view. It’s not just buying meat from a local meat provider. Yes, that’s a piece of it, but are you using a local tax firm to prepare your taxes? Are you volunteering for local nonprofits or sending your charitable giving dollars to a local nonprofit? Are you exploring local things to do? It’s so much bigger than just your purchasing power.”
A shared vision is how the organization moves forward as a whole. When it comes to what the future has in store for DBL, its members, and their communities, the answer is entirely dependent on outside forces and adaptability. As consumer trends shift and markets evolve, DBL helps everyone react thoughtfully. “We know who we are,” says Paula. “We know who we aspire to be. As the world changes, DBL needs to change too.”
One constant throughout DBL’s over-20 years as an organization is educating the public on just how influential their spending habits are. Studies shared on danebuylocal.com show that if Greater Madison area consumers shift 10 percent of their spending from chains to local stores, $173 million would be retained in their local economy each year.
“At the end of the day, a business owner opens a business because they have a passion,” says Paula. “It gives them their livelihood. It wakes them up in the morning—gets them excited. So that value that they feel with their business, we want everybody to find that value. Whether it’s volunteering at schools and making a difference with kids or finding other ways to invest in our communities, there’s a bigger heart behind what we’re doing.”
