Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

 

I went to a networking meeting this week. I’ve attended this particular meeting a few times in the past year, and I love it. My boss was out of town and needed a replacement, so I eagerly agreed to fill in for him.

We met at The Outlet downtown. If you’re not familiar with this building, I strongly encourage you to check it out. When they revamped and updated it, they did an amazing job. Exposed brick, Edison light bulbs, gorgeous metal and woodwork — the perfect mix of modern and old school. You can rent office space by the hour, day or month or host a party or a business meeting there. Seriously, downtown Albert Lea at its finest.

One of my favorite parts about attending these meetings is getting to know the local entrepreneurs and business owners in our community. As someone who’s lived here for almost nine years, I’m continually impressed with how many people run their own business. These companies that I thought were run by no-name conglomerates from out of town, are locally owned and operated. How cool is that?! How awesome to live in a town that has so many ma and pa shops.

With that said, how many of us actually support these businesses? When you are in the market to get a new bicycle, where do you go? When you need paint made, who mixes it? When you’re meeting someone for lunch, where do you eat? We have skilled electricians, chefs, mechanics, party planners, Realtors, boutiques, computer techs — anything you need, I can guarantee there’s a small business in town that offers it.

I’m starting to sound like a commercial, but I’m genuinely excited. We have amazing local talent in this town. There are so many services that these companies offer that I didn’t even know existed. Did you know that if you’re in the market for new gutters, you have options? As in, you don’t have to hire out, and you don’t have to do it 100% yourself. There is a company in town that will custom cut to fit your gutters and then drop them off for you to put on yourself. Thus saving you money and hassle. (GT Construction)

Or how about our newspaper? It’s local. The staff live here, and they care about this town. They do their best to report on what happens here. If you are reading this, you probably already have a subscription. If you’re reading this online, you might be using one of your free views for the month, (Thank you!) However, did you know that it only cost $6 a month to have unlimited views? That’s crazy cheap.

When people say they don’t support local because it’s too expensive, I understand. I was once living very heavily on rice and beans. I’ve been there. However, if you have the money to shop at the outlet malls, or pay for Disney Plus, you have enough money to shop local. Trust me. You always have money for the things that are important to you. And I really hope that you feel Albert Lea is important enough to invest in. I do.

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams.