Local First to celebrate fourth year of local pride

Local First will host its fourth annual LocalMotion Awards on Tuesday, January 28. The event is designed to celebrate the creative geniuses behind the scenes of the Grand Rapids local food and drink industry and come together in name of local pride.

Local First Executive Director, Elissa Hillary, says the LocalMotion Awards were created to recognize businesses and individuals leading the way in building a vibrant, sustainable community. The awards, she says, are a tool to help shift the “norm” towards sustainable business practices and to educate the community on the unique ways locally owned businesses impact our region.

“It is both a networking opportunity and a chance to be on the forefront of Local First updates from 2013 and news about 2014,” says Hillary. “Many of the nominees for LocalMotion awards are from the Grand Rapids area and are businesses that Grand Rapidians love to stand by. Our nominations are submitted by community members and they can be the first to know who of the nominees will win this year.”

The attire for the evening is business dress, which “makes it the perfect event to come to right after work,” Hillary adds. In its fourth year, Local First event is billed to be an evening full of music, food, drink and inspiration.

“Seeing ‘what could be’ inspires and motivates people,” says Hillary. “We’re seeing business norms change rapidly; people are reducing their waste, changing their sourcing and increasing their involvement in the community. It’s exciting!”

Food vendors will include Connie’s Cakes, Essence Restaurant Group, Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, Love’s Ice Cream, Madcap Coffee, Propaganda Doughnuts, Supermercado Mexico, TerraGR and Twisted Rooster. Drinks will be catered by Art of the Table. Food is included in the ticket price and drinks will be available for purchase for $5.

Tickets will be sold on Monday January 27 until midnight, and will also be available at the door. Tickets can be purchased online on their website.