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Grant will help Local Roots focus on reaching the next level [Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH)]
[November 08, 2014]

Grant will help Local Roots focus on reaching the next level [Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH)]


(Daily Record, The (Wooster, OH) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WOOSTER -- Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service, a new era has begun at Local Roots Market and Cafe.

Jessica Eikleberry, a member of the food cooperative's steering committee, said Local Roots was awarded a $98,280 grant from the Local Food Promotion Program. With the money, Local Roots will be able to enter into a period of growth in sales, fueled by marketing and advertisement.



Eikleberry said Local Roots was never able to focus on growing sales because members had to work hard at making sure there were enough consumers to support the producers and food to meet the demand of consumers.

However, Eikleberry said with the grant money Local Roots will focus on increasing sales.


"It's been almost five years and we now feel like ... it's the right time," she said. "Let's bring the traffic in." Eikleberry said the $98,000 will provide for several things. It will allow her to be employed by Local Roots as a marketing director. Some of the grant dollars have been allocated as a marketing and advertising budget. Within that budget, she said, there is money set aside to hire a marketing consultant.

Jennifer Hugon of Hugon Art Design was one of Local Roots' founding members and Eikleberry said Hugon has wanted to take the marketing to the next level, but the resources for her work were never there.

"Now, it's like we can actually have her do things," Eikleberry said.

Hugon, who was responsible for Local Roots' signature carrot logo, said she wants to bring in more professional marketing materials to the cooperative. She listed new signs and more advanced newsletters as some of the items likely to come about.

"It's really exciting," she said. "It's been difficult to take it to the next level in terms of marketing .... It will allow us to really push their marketing forward." Both Eikleberry and Hugon said with the help of marketing the cooperative will be able to attract more customers.

There are many advantages to increasing the consumers, according to Eikleberry. She said more consumers and more sales mean more producers can be supported.

"It's a real big time for us," she said, adding she never thought it would grow to this point.

Reporter Thomas Doohan can be reached at 330-287-1635 or [email protected].

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