Friday is Buy Local Day at fair
It’s fair time! The Fayette County Fair, one of the biggest economic generators for our county is well underway. Annually, Pennsylvania county fairs generate more than $126 million for local economies throughout the commonwealth. And the Fayette County Fair is one of the largest in Pennsylvania. I know my family contributes at least $150 to that $126 million in food alone. We try and make it a point to support the local non-profits and civic organizations selling food at the fair so that we can give back to the community and help them raise funds for projects, school trips, uniforms, etc.
This Friday is Buy Local Day at the Fayette County Fair. Make sure you stop by to see what the Buy Local program is all about and find out more information about the businesses that participate in the program. We’ll have some recipes, handouts, menus and more at our booth. We’ll also have giveaways for anyone that fills out one of our surveys and coupons to hand out as well.
The fair is already off to a great start, and we still have almost a whole week left, so get out there and support our local farmers and business owners.
I wanted to talk a little more this week about our local farmers markets, which are starting out quite successfully this year. We have great vendors at our markets this year, and we have more vendors than we’ve ever had. These men and women work very hard growing their produce, cultivating their vineyards and creating their unique specialty items. And I’ve said before, the produce you can get at a roadside stand or farmers market tastes unbelievable. You’ll never want to eat a tomato from another country ever again. So let’s make sure we get out and support these markets. Because without your support, they won’t be successful.
Shifting subjects, I would be remiss not to mention that Fay-Penn’s Workforce Development initiative, in partnership with the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and in affiliation with the Fayette Business Education Partnership, is sponsoring a free Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) preparatory course at the Pennsylvania State University-Eberly Campus. To ensure students in Fayette County (regardless of financial status) have every opportunity to pursue his or her post-secondary educational ventures, attendance at an SAT preparatory course can provide them with a strong foundation for success. For more information about this course call Tom Cramer at Fay-Penn at 724-437-7913.
All of these different initiatives have one common goal and that is strengthening and sustaining our local economy so business can locate here, grow and expand. These expanding and growing businesses then provide jobs to a qualified workforce that is living right here in Fayette County, and our young people don’t have to move away to find a good job. If you would like more information on Fay-Penn’s businesses services, email me at loris@faypenn.org.
Lori Scott is the Sustainable Communities Specialist for Fay-Penn Economic Development Council. She can be reached at loris@faypenn.org or 724-437-7913.