All you need is right here
Sarah Fournier is the new Creative Director of magazines for The Lindsay Advocate, Kawartha Social, and Play Stay Live. She’s also a Creative Director/Partner at Colour and Code, a marketing, website, and design agency in Lindsay.
Every December, we’re encouraged to shop local, to buy gifts from downtown businesses, visit holiday craft shows, and support the makers and storefronts that keep our communities vibrant. It’s an important message, and one I wholeheartedly believe in. But this year, I’ve been thinking about something beyond the usual holiday shopping conversation: supporting the local service providers who quietly support our small businesses behind the scenes.
Because if there’s one thing I’ve noticed this past year, it’s the incredible and inspiring work that is coming out of Kawartha Lakes across many industries, but more specifically in my own industry of design and marketing. In my humble opinion, the talent that exists in our area rivals anything you’d find in larger cities – and often beats it.
Through Colour + Code’s work with local businesses, organizations, and non-profits, I’ve had a front-row seat to the calibre of work being produced here. The level of thought, quality, and care is equal to anything you’d get in Toronto, without the big-city price tag or the disconnect from the local economy. And honestly, the creativity might be the most impressive part, because small businesses rarely have big-city budgets, yet the work still delivers.
And Colour + Code is not alone. Launchworthy (formerly Barton Creative Co.), PB+J, and Sunday Roast are consistently producing top-tier work right here in our region.
When organizations choose to hire locally, it sets off a chain reaction. A project awarded to a Kawartha Lakes designer, videographer, or consultant doesn’t just result in a great end product. It circulates money back into the community. That income gets spent at our restaurants, our retail stores, our hockey arenas, our theatres. It’s donated to local charities. It shows up in volunteer hours, pro-bono work, sponsorships, and the thousands of tiny acts that make a community feel like a community.
And the opposite is also true. When businesses look elsewhere, the impact is felt. The sudden closure of Holsag in Lindsay was a sobering reminder of how fragile our local economy can be. When we overlook what’s right here, when we assume “big city equals better,” we weaken the very ecosystem we rely on.
This year, more than any other, I’ve been reminded how deeply local service providers care about the businesses they support. Most of us are small business owners ourselves. When we build a brand, shoot a video, develop a website, or craft a marketing campaign, we’re not just fulfilling a contract. We’re rooting for another family-run business to grow, to hire, to stay open another year. We’re investing in neighbours, not clients.
My wish for 2026 is that we broaden what “shop local” means. Support the storefronts, absolutely. But also the creatives, professionals, and tradespeople working quietly behind the scenes.
Because the truth is simple: Our community grows stronger every time we choose the people who call it home.
