LOGANSPORT — It’s a simple concept — pick three businesses, spend $50 and help save the local economy.

The 3/50 project is something Cass County businesses have embraced in recent months.

“We feel it’s very important for the residents of Cass County to spend money locally,” said Dan Keister, general manager of Mid-America Radio Group of Logansport.

Mid-America Radio Group has become a strong supporter of the 3/50 project.

Keister said the company heard about the project after Mid-America employee Lisa Downham traveled to Saugatuck, Mich., and noticed a sign in a business.

“She stopped in and asked questions about it,” Keister said. “We took it a step further —  buy local, be local.”

The project was founded in March 2009 by Cinda Baxter, who had been concerned about her hometown and wanted to find a way to help businesses in the community.

According to its Facebook page, the “3/50 Project supports independent, locally owned businesses by inspiring consumer loyalty to the storefronts that directly fund their communities.”

Baxter encourages people to take into consideration three local businesses that would be missed if closed.

“Stop in. Say hello. Pick up a little something that makes you smile. That’s what keeps them around, after all,” the website states.

The mission of the project, according to the website, is to promote and strengthen independent businesses owned by local people; thank customers for their business; expand local revenue by educating others on how money spent can lead to financial stability; explain the difference between the contributions of an independent, locally-owned business compared to franchises , chain stores and Internet purchases; and “to save the local economy — three stores at a time.”

For every $100 spent locally, Keister explained $68 is returned to Cass County through tax dollars, paychecks and other expenditures.

The radio group promoted the concept for about eight weeks on the air. It is currently taking a break, but hopes to bring the idea back during the holiday season.

There are approximately 35 to 40 business which support the project in Cass County.

Designer Joe’s Hair Care and Nails owner Joe Allen decided to participate because the project is a good way to support Cass County.

“It’s a good program,” he said. “It’s talking about Cass County businesses and individual business owners. That’s talking about me — I’m an individual business owner. That is why I did it.”

Mike Graybeal, owner of The Gray Mill, thought the concept was a great idea when he heard about it.

His major concern is for people to understand what the project is all about.

He hopes that once the word gets out, it will have a snowball effect.

“If people would just think about their daily or weekly routine and ask themselves, ‘What would I miss if it wasn’t there anymore,’” he said.

Graybeal has information sheets available on the project from the website. According to the project, if half of the employed U.S. population would spend $50 a month at independently owned business, the purchases could generate more than $24.6 billion in revenue.

Regardless, Graybeal hopes that the concept catches on.

“If it worked in one place, why couldn’t it work in another?”

• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com

On the Internet:

www.the350project.net