Business & Tech
Third Annual Buy Michigan Now Festival Promotes Local Businesses
Downtown Northville is hosting the Buy Michigan Now Festival this weekend. Attractions include local vendors, children's activities, and live music.
For the third straight year, Downtown Northville is hosting the Buy Michigan Now Festival.
Taking place this weekend, the festival coincides with the state's annual Buy Michigan Week. The Buy Michigan Now Festival is a celebration of locally owned businesses, the products that they sell and the people who make them. Main and Center streets have been closed for the weekend in order to accommodate the vendors lining the sidewalks.
There are many different types of businesses taking advantage of the exposure. There's a potato chip maker offering free samples, multiple clothiers selling their Michigan-made wearables and even a traveling psychic. The festival also features a scavenger hunt, multiple giveaways, a recipe contest, children's activities and two stages of live music.
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Lisa Diggs is founder and organizer of the festival. A business owner herself, Diggs wanted to provide Michigan business people an opportunity to network with each other, with the media, and with consumers.
"It's exposure for small businesses that they wouldn't get on their own," Diggs said.
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With a job that required her to travel outside of Michigan, Diggs said that with every return home, Michigan's economy appeared worse and worse. Buy Michigan Now is her effort to promote, encourage, and celebrate Michigan businesses.
"I started to wonder where all my dollars were going," Diggs said. "And then I thought that we all should."
Diggs built an online directory where consumers can look up businesses that are exclusively Michigan-based. Buymichigannow.com has more than 2,500 businesses listed, Diggs said.
Dhinakar Kuland is a first-year vendor at the festival. He started his coffee business six months ago.
The festival offers Kuland a unique opportunity to get his business out there and attract first-time customers. In only a few hours on the event's first day, Kuland said he's already benefiting from the exposure.
"It's been good," said Kuland. "I got a few leads. Hopefully things work out."
The Buy Michigan Now Fest runs from 10am to 9pm Saturday, August 6th and from noon to 5pm Sunday, August 7th. The event is free.
