While face-to-face interaction with customers has stalled for many local businesses, the Gilmer Chamber is working to keep business owners and customers connected during the ongoing health crisis.
“We made the decision when this first started that we would follow two paths,” said Paige Green, Gilmer Chamber president. “We want to be the loudest, most factual resource for business resources so we’ve tried to take all the information coming from places like the federal and state (governments), disseminate it to our businesses and put them in touch with who they need to be in touch with. We’re doing the majority of that through e-mail now, but we want to continue being that strong business resource. We also decided to use our outlets, like social media, to be a business encourager and we’ve created three different new initiatives.”
Two of those initiatives use gift cards as a way to bring customers back to the county’s small businesses.
Anyone can share their at-home projects and activities with the chamber on Facebook using #SharetheSunshine. Details about ways to enter the Share the Sunshine Challenge can be found on the Gilmer Chamber Facebook page.
“We’ve had people doing all sorts of things (like) planting indoor gardens, making homemade greeting cards, making masks and doing paintings,” Green said.
Daily winners, who are chosen Monday-Friday, receive a gift card to a locally-owned business.
“We get in contact with the winners and they get a $150 gift card. So far, we’ve given away 11 days (of gift cards), which is $1,650,” Green said last week. “The chamber board of directors authorized us to spend up to a certain dollar amount, so we are paying (for those gift cards) because we want to put that money in the pockets of our local businesses.”
This week, the chamber started another business-boosting campaign called Pay It Forward Gilmer.
Faith, Hope and Charity Recycle Store Inc., has provided funding for the initiative, which is open to small businesses in general and not just those that are chamber members, Green noted.
“We will give a business $25. They will use that to give a $25 gift card to one of their best customers. The only catch is you have to pay it forward and buy a $25 gift card for somebody else. That $25 could turn into $75, $100 (or more),” she added. “It’s to get people spending a little bit of money right now to support our businesses and they can reap the benefits of it later.”
Green described how the small business community has been affected by the COVID-19 health crisis and emergency orders enacted to reduce spread of the virus.
“Most small retail is closed. All our cabin rentals are closed. All our service providers like hair stylists and nail salons are also closed. Restaurants are doing the best they can, but they will not be able to survive forever with just carry-out and delivery. Like every other small business, they’re looking at what options are available to them through the CARES Act and additional unemployment insurance that’s now available,” she said. “What we’ve got to do is concentrate on getting them through this so they’re still there to open back up.”
The chamber is also asking local folks to create something inspirational for their friends, neighbors and others with an activity called Chalk Ellijay.
“We’re encouraging people to use sidewalk chalk to draw encouraging, positive pictures, whether it’s in their driveway or while they are outside exercising while keeping social distancing and not traveling to do it,” Green said. “We’re just trying to bring a little joy and life to a pretty dim situation.”