Arizona has transformed in twenty years. Whether you’ve been with us since day one or this is your first day, thank you for putting local first.
Major Milestones
2003
Kimber Lanning called two friends - Cindy Dach of Changing Hands Bookstore and Michael Monti of Monti’s La Casa Vieja - and began discussing strategies to level the playing field for locally-
owned businesses.
2007
The Certified Local Fall Festival, now known as the Arizona Fall Festival, launches with 27 businesses and 3,000 attendees. It’s since grown to host over 200 vendors - the biggest community event at Margaret T. Hance Park!
2009
Local First introduces the Devour Culinary Classic
to highlight Arizona’s culinary scene. The following year, the New York Times names the event the best Southwestern culinary festival.
2014
The annual Move Your Money campaign is launched, encouraging folks to shift their banking deposits to local banks and credit unions. By 2019, Arizonans have shifted 11% of their deposits from global to local banks.
2022
The Arizona Economic Recovery Center marks the distribution of $32 million in state and federal grant wins for small towns, tribes and non-profits in all 15 counties.
2023
Local First opens its third Community Kitchen in Maryvale, joining Mesa and South Phoenix. Due to overwhelming demand, two more community kitchens will open in 2023.
2020
During the COVID Crisis, Local First distributed $52 million in small business relief aid and $7 million in Back to Work grants to hire and retain employees. While directly assisting over 5,000 locally-owned businesses in all 15 counties.
Local First merges with the Arizona Rural Development Council, becoming the state’s federally designated rural development council.
The Council’s annual Rural Policy Forum is hosted
in Globe-Miami.
2013
2013
Fuerza Local, the state’s first Spanish-language business accelerator, is launched to support the development of small businesses to combat the wealth gap and specifically the racial wealth gap. By 2022, Fuerza Local will have graduated nearly 1,000 Fuerza Local small businesses.
2023
With support from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and Verde Valley community partners, Local First’s Green Business Boot Camp expands to the Verde Valley. This innovative program assists locally-owned businesses with reducing operation costs by lowering their carbon and water footprints.
2019
Leveraging the experience, proven format, and success of Fuerza Local, the We Rise Business Accelerator is developed for and by Arizona’s Black small-business owners. The program as graduated more than 40 leaders since 2020.
2017
Local First opens its first Community Kitchen at El Rancho in Mesa. The kitchen incubates hundreds of food entrepreneurs, acts as a food pantry, and trains
kids and families about cooking and nutrition
Change Starts Locally
It's been a journey already, but we're only getting started! Your tax-deductible donation allows us to diversify Arizona’s economy with business accelerator programs, community kitchens, and urban farms at low or no cost to every person dreaming of starting or growing their business. When you become a Localist, or set up a recurring donation, you provide the foundation to expand our programs, remain agile and responsive to the needs of the communities we serve, and weather any economic downturn or global crisis so that locally-owned businesses always have a voice and a place to turn to for help. Any donation, large or small, one-time or recurring, has the power to uplift Arizonans.