Milly Money: Keeping dollars spent on local businesses in the community

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/ WMGT) – Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce and Milledgeville Main Street teamed up to create an incentive to support local businesses.

With almost 100-percent of the chamber memberships being local businesses, Milly Money allows money spent in the city, to stay in the city.

“They make up over 85-percent chamber membership and they are the heart of this community. Many of them have been in business for 50 years. Some of them, over 100 years and so they’re a mainstay,” Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Angie Martin said.

To make sure online and box retailers don’t take over, Milly Money helps prevent it.

“I love Milledgeville. I want to support it and there’s not a ton of other options because we don’t have Target and stuff here,” shopper McKay Brown said.

Milly Money is like a gift card and 40 local businesses throughout Milledgeville and Baldwin County accept Milly Money.

“Businesses can unite together to just support Milledgeville,” marketer for Firefly Boutique Alissa Sibley said.

Martin says you buy the card, but it comes in $5 increments. So money spent on Milly Money goes right back to the city.

According to Sibley, shopping locally can become something bigger and better.

” I really like shopping local because it helps build more entrepreneurs. I think it inspires people in the community to start their own businesses,” Sibley said.

To purchase Milly Money, you can go to Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce or Milldegeville Main Street.

Credit: Milledgeville Main Street