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BUSINESS
GRANDVIEW AREA CHAMBER
July 17, 2014
Connections in Commerce | www.grandviewchamber.org
Vol. 2 | Issue 4
Digfest 2014:
Biggest and best in fourth year
Over $75,000 donated to French Loaf Bakery A few months ago, we told you about a new project the Grandview Area Chamber decided to take on. It was a spinoff of Extreme Makeover, or Restaurant Takeover or Save My Bakery! “As a small Chamber of Commerce, it was important for us to let the community know who we are and what we stand for,” said Michelle Wilson, Executive Director of the Chamber. Wilson added that it was a huge undertaking for a Chamber of this size and for the French Loaf to open their doors and books and minds to a project like this. In January, a group of Chamber members met, set a timeline and
a plan and took off running with their respective duties. Stephen Papineau of Shelby Management reviewed and drafted a new business plan. Courtney Linke of US Bank worked with the owner to handle cost-analysis and financial forecasting. And, the first couple of weeks consisted of gathering data from mystery shoppers on customer service, product, atmo-
sphere and price point. Once data was gathered and background work was complete, the committee then focused on interior design, website development, social media presence and new logo and branding. The entire project also was filmed from beginning to end by Vital Companies, who provided a time-lapsed video of the makeover weekend. We met weekly either in person or online, shared documents, ideas, plans and goals. It all came together in a whirlwind makeover weekend on May 17-19, where in a total of 25 hours over three days:
The Grandview Area Chamber held the 4th Annual Digfest, aka, Drinks In Grandview Festival, on Saturday, June 14, 2014 at the Grandview Yard. “Each year the festival has grown. We’ve increased the venue size every year, the amount of vendors, and the number of patrons,” stated Michelle Wilson, Executive Director of the Chamber. Back in 2011, the Programming Committee of the Chamber decided to add a second signature event in an effort to boost the Chamber’s annual budget. Increasing the budget would allow the Chamber to add additional programming throughout the year. At that time, the Taste of Grandview had been held each October for five years, and the weather traditionally, was inhibitive of a really successful event. Enter, Digfest. Just four short years ago, the craft beer movement was just hitting the airwaves as alternate options to standard drafts in restaurants and bars. Also relatively new was the distillery movement, and Columbus already had two in town. Ohio wines have a longer history and presence, but not many people had taken the opportunity to visit local wineries to taste and compare the quality of their favorite storebought bottle to a locally grown and sourced wine. We decided to capitalize on these up and coming trends and build a festival around all drinks local. Each year since, the event has grown; the number of craft breweries has exploded, as well as distilleries. Ohio now boasts 28 distilleries compared to a handful in 2009. The 2014 Digfest greeted over 5,000 patrons who enjoyed music by Colin Gawel & The Lonely Bones as well as The Randys, all while sampling beer from 23 craft breweries, and several more liquors, spirits and wines from around Ohio. Food was available from 10 local Chamber member restaurants and the offerings were over-the-top delicious this year. Other vendors included crafters that make products related to the beverage industry, and the most popular this year seemed to be See DIGFEST on page 2
See FRENCH LOAF on page 2
4th Annual Neighborhood Bar Crawl and Scavenger Hunt Don’t miss the fun Saturday, July 19 from 3 to 9 p.m. in Grandview
Join 500 crawlers and visit 5 of 12 participating bars, on one fun day. And, we just announced our after-party live act: That 80s Band! No cover with your crawl admission.
Register online at www.cypclub.com/events