The new managing director of Local First, Monique DiGiorgio, plans to focus on helping small, independent businesses connect with their customers, build a localist movement and expand the Eat Local program.
Before taking the top position at Local First, DiGiorgio was the executive director of the Chama Peak Land Alliance, a nonprofit that she helped found. The Land Alliance focuses on conserving open space, clean water and wildlife.
“The transition to Local First was a really natural one for me because I really see the interconnectedness between our natural environment, our economy and our community,” she said.
DiGiorgio has a biology degree from the University of Notre Dame and she worked as a field ornithologist before moving into the nonprofit world. She moved to Durango in the late 1990s and she has been involved with nonprofits for about 20 years. She sees a strong connection between running a nonprofit and business.
“Building and growing a nonprofit requires the business skills and building sense of an entrepreneur,” she said.
In her new position, she plans to grow Local First’s membership and spread awareness about the importance of buying products from independent businesses, instead of shopping online.
“We are definitely very aware of what we call the leakage,” she said.
Local First plans to roll out a new program to encourage loyalty programs between independent businesses and their customers through many channels such as digital platforms like email and social media.
“I think that really speaks to what is missing when you have a relationship with Amazon,” she said, of potential loyalty programs.
To expand the nonprofit’s Eat Local Program, she plans to apply for a grant to fund a fruit tree gleaning program in the fall to prevent bear-human conflicts, provide fruit to local businesses and prevent waste.
She said both gardens and larger-scale farms could be eligible.
In April before the La Plata Electric Association election, she plans to raise awareness about the local renewable energy economy and what sustainable energy independence might look like.
It’s an issue that the nonprofit dabbled in previously, she said.
In the 2018 Be Local Coupon book, one of the nonprofit’s more well-known products, DiGiorgio plans also plans to highlight the community’s top 10 localists.
She expects to work with the community on defining what a localist is. It could be an entrepreneur or it could have a broader definition, she said.
The nonprofit may put out a call for nominations in the next month or so, she said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
