Connie Scholl and Wanda Drey have been local business owners for nearly six years. Macungie’s Posey Patch, the only independent flower shop in the borough has been their bed of roses for nearly six years.

But they have a growing concern, Scholl said, in that people who live in the Lower Macungie area don’t think or shop “local.”

So they joined the Independent We Stand, an internet organization that champions local businesses. The Posey Patch was the first company in the area to become part of it, she said, and so far, no others have followed.

“One of our six employees saw the link, and we have been involved with he association,’’ Scholl said in a recent interview.

That brought up Valentine’s Day, when the average person will spend $116.21 on gifts that include greeting cards, flowers, lingerie and dinners for a nationwide total of $15.7 billion, according to Independent We Stand.

Scholl said the big seller again this year will be roses -- the standard. The Posey Patch has specials that feature roses in vases, baskets, containers and other Valentine mixes.

“If each person spent $116.21 at a locally owned independent business rather than a national chain, $79 would stay in their community thanks to local payrolls and taxes,"  Independent We Stand says, and “More than $10.67 billion would be reinvested in local communities…."

However, “If each person buys their gifts only at national chains instead, that reinvestment number drops to $6.7 billion," it says.

There are four major sectors for local spending, Scholl said, and one of them is flower stores.

She said that if people buying flowers would use a local florist -- rather than a wire service -- money would be saved and some of the flowers might even be grown locally.

Candy falls in a similar category with home-made producers such as Josh Early Candies in South Whitehall Township and Premise Maid Candies in Breinigsville.

The places to go to dinner are even easier to figure out: Armetta's, the Buckeye Tavern and the Stoned Crab are in. McDonald’s is out.

A deal for jewelry could be worked out with Lisa Boland Jewelry Designs, a company run out of Boland's Lower Macungie home.

“Research shows that if you shift a portion of your spending from national chains  and the Internet to independently locally-owned and operated businesses, you can have a dramatic effect on the local economy,’’ Independent We Stand says.

Members take a pledge that includes committments to:

• Seek out a local business you’ve never been to and see what they have to offer.
• Buy a book at a local corner store.
• Purchase a birthday present at a local gift shop.
• Get a prescription filled at a local pharmacy.
• Get a string trimmer from a local hardware store that can service and maintain the products it sells.