Figures reveal that most residents looking to spend more than $35 will travel to Ballarat, Bendigo or Melbourne.

But Andrea Drake is hoping to change that.

"There are 740 businesses in Creswick and most of us don't even know they all exist," she said.

"We want to help people do a bit of research and discover what's on offer."

As part of the campaign, Ms Drake will run monthly business breakfasts and offer discount vouchers for traders, available at the Creswick Market.

She has also released a market directory, which includes a number of businesses and their phone numbers. 

"Instead of driving, we urge people to try and stay local," she said.

"This this has an economic factor as well as an environmental factor so it's beneficial on both counts."

She said people had already started seeing the local opportunities since the campaign started last month.

"People have told me they're going to the local hairdresser and trying to find local stuff, because they're understanding the importance of it," she said.

"Hopefully this will mean more and more businesses can stay open in town and people won't always go elsewhere."