Pittsford residents are behind a new Web site looking to promote shopping locally.
David Madison and Edward Hanchett are the co-founders of equaTEK Interactive, an e-commerce and Web site hosting firm, which recently launched the Go Buy Rochester Project at www.gobuyrochester.com.
The site is designed to be a place where area manufacturers, local retailers and shoppers can connect and keep online spending in the greater Rochester region, which includes Ontario, Monroe, Wayne, Yates and six other counties.
The new site focuses on the local economic impact of retail purchases — “creating sustainable growth for local merchants and suppliers,” as the site notes.
President David Madison explained the concept with this analogy: “If you are standing in a local retail store, you are less likely to drive to several others to compare prices. When shopping online, you will definitely check many places before buying. The Go Buy Rochester Project is a way to give online preference to the companies that employ your friends, family and neighbors.”
“By shopping local, every consumer will be reinvesting in our economy, helping to create and retain jobs for their family, friends and neighbors,” the site continues.
Madison co-founded equaTEK with Hanchett, whom he met at another technology business, located in Victor.
“By bringing together local suppliers and consumers, we can build a community in which our expenditures become a re-investment in our local region,” said Hanchett. “As an economic marketplace, we have to take an active role in becoming self-sustaining.”
The recent national economic downturn got them thinking about how conventional buyer-and-seller dynamics don’t always apply to online purchasing.
Details on GoBuyRochester are available by calling (585) 924-8680 or visiting www.GoBuyRochester.com.
