Project Aims to Drive Customer Loyalty at Independent Oakdale Businesses

Organizers of The 3/50 Project in Oakdale are hoping that increased customer loyalty will help to keep more local, independently owned businesses open.

The campaign encourages residents to pick three independent brick-and-mortar businesses they’d hate to see close down, and pledge to spend $50 total each month at those businesses.

“If every citizen would do this, the revenue would be significant,” John Larson, who is coordinating the effort, said to the Oakdale Economic Development Commission at its meeting Wednesday.

Larson, who is the senior pastor at and a board member of the Oakdale Business and Professional Association, said this effort could help sustain more small businesses.

Representatives from the Oakdale Business and Professional Association, the Oakdale Economic Development Commission and the City of Oakdale are starting their first phase of the project by encouraging businesses in three targeted areas of the city to join and promote The 3/50 Project, Larson said.

They’ll start by focusing on the areas around Geneva (Century) Avenue and Interstate 694, Geneva Avenue and 10th Street and 10th Street and Hadley Avenue, Larson said.

They chose those areas because they wanted to include areas in both the north and south portions of the city that had relatively high numbers of vacancies, said Economic Development Commission Chair Mark Landis.

“We just want to get a starting point,” Landis said.

The 3/50 Project was started by Cinda Baxter of Minneapolis. Businesses that are currently registered with The 3/50 Project are listed on its website.