Together they have started a campaign -- "Think Local, Produce Local, Buy Local" -- to promote consumer awareness for buying produce and agricultural products within a 125-mile area.
The "buy local" region includes Allegheny, Westmoreland, Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, as well as northern West Virginia and eastern Ohio.
"It's a value-driven proposition," said Michael Krajovic, president of the Uniontown-based The Fay-Penn Economic Development Council.
No estimates were offered on how much money could be pumped into the local economy.
Bob Junk, who is spearheading the program for Fay-Penn, said that 68 percent of every purchase from a local business stays in the community.
The first target of the "buy local" campaign is the agriculture industry because of the significant amount of farming in Fayette County, Junk said.
The county has 978 farms and 125,000 acres in production -- accounting for $21.3 million in crops and livestock sales, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures.
"It's a great opportunity for us to look at how we can develop our own food systems," said Junk, former president of the Pennsylvania Farmers Union. "It's something that's very achievable."
Fayette County has the infrastructure for commercializing food production at a warehouse, which is part of the Republic Enterprise Center owned by the Fayette County Community Action Agency Inc., he said.
The initiative can establish a new market for local farmers and create jobs and training opportunities for low-income residents, said Bob Bakos, development director for the agency.
The East End Co-Op in Point Breeze already buys a lot of locally grown produce and meats, said Chris Faber, outreach coordinator for the food co-op, at the program's launch.
To promote local sales of Fayette County's beef products, a slaughterhouse is needed that can meet Department of Agriculture standards, said Frank Mutnansky, a cattle farmer in North Union.
A group of four local farmers -- named the Keystone Farmers Cooperative Association -- must transport their naturally bred cattle to Eighty-Four in Washington County, where a meat-processing plant meets the USDA standards.
The farmers' meat is sold to a food distributor, the East End Co-Op and Schramm's Farms & Orchards in Harrison City in Penn Township.
A Fayette County slaughterhouse, though, would open more opportunities, said Mutnansky.
"I think this is a great opportunity for us" to help support the local economy, said Jeff DiMaio, manager of family-owned Titlow Tavern & Grille in Uniontown.
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