Business Directory for Rockville, Maryland

About the Directory

Welcome to the Buy Rockville directory, produced by Rockville Interactive in partnership with the Rockville Chamber of Commerce, as part of the Buy Rockville campaign which was begun in 2009 to encourage support of local businesses and organizations.

If you own, manage or do marketing for a Rockville area business or organization, you're welcome to add your organization to the directory, or to login any time to update your listing. You can also gain extra visibility at the website and in our newsletter and Facebook page by advertising with us.

We are currently offering one free month of advertising in the directory to all restaurants who sign up to participate in Rockville Restaurant Week before September 3.

10 Reasons to Buy Local

As described here, buying local keeps more of your money in the community, where it benefits you most. Here are 10 reasons to Buy Local, Think Local, Be Local (from Sustainable Connections):

1. Support yourself: Several studies have shown that when you buy from an independent, locally owned business, rather than a nationally owned business, significantly more of your money is used to make purchases from other local businesses, service providers and farms -- continuing to strengthen the economic base of the community.
   
   
2. Support community groups: Non-profit organizations receive an average 250% more support from smaller business owners than they do from large businesses.
   
   
3. Keep our community unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun -- all of it makes our community home. Our one-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of this place. Our tourism businesses also benefit.
   
   
4. Reduce environmental impact: Locally owned businesses can make more local purchases requiring less transportation and generally set up shop in town or city centers as opposed to developing on the fringe. This generally means contributing less to sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
   
   
5. Create more good jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally and in our community, provide the most jobs to residents.
   
   
6. Get better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers.
   
   
7. Invest in community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in this community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community’s future.
   
   
8. Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
   
   
9. Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy: A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term. A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
   
   
10. Encourage local prosperity: A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character.