March letter from the President

Here is March's letter from the President!

Well, there is no doubt that times are tough. The plight of the economy has his us, and has hit us hard. So, I want to ask you, what are you doing to help the local economy? Are you making any conscience decisions about it? Or, are you just going on with your daily life, hoping that it will get better?

I have made a conscience decision to help OUR LOCAL ecconomy. How am I doing this? I am choosing to shop locally. I am choosing to purchase everything that I can from a local business. Sometimes that means paying more.

From a photography business standpoint, there are many local businesses that we can support. We have three great Michigan labs that have business memberships at PPWM.  They are Allied Photographic and Imaging, JD Photo Imaging, and Prolab Express. I have chosen to keep my printing at a Michigan company. Why send it out of state when you can get it done locally?

We also have some great camera stores in Grand Rapids. I have chosen to buy all my camera gear and supplies at Norman Camera. They really know their products they sell, and they do it with great customer service. I know that I could probably find a product for a couple dollars cheaper online, but it doesn’t come with the customer service that Norman Camera gives me. I feel better knowing that I am helping MY LOCAL economy. There are also several other local camera stores in the area, including The Camera Center, Marks Photo and Video, and Lakewood Photo and Imaging.

One of the other local companies I support is Great Lakes Albums. I use Renaissance albums, and I order them through Great Lakes. I know they have quite a range of albums including flush mount, self mount, and traditional.  Call them and see what they have!

Do I buy everything locally? No. I wish I could say I did. There are a few things that I have found that I still purchase from companies that are not local. But, I do think about everything I buy. I ask myself if I can buy that product locally. If I can, I will. I want to challenge you to do the same, not only with your business, but your personal life also!