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NEWSLETTER u WINTER 2023 u
Business & Industry United For A Better Community
WHAT’S INSIDE:
NONPROFIT HELP
Give back to Oswego with donations and volunteerism
LAUNCHING POINT A village program helps new businesses get started
NEW MEMBERS
Fall Membership Drive adds 11 businesses to the Chamber
SHOP LOCAL FOR THE HOLIDAYS Find the gifts and goods you need in Oswego
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By Melissa Rubalcaba Riske
hen the time comes for making a gift list and checking it twice, remember to consider shopping with your local merchants to find unique items and show support for the community. The marketing campaign for Shop Small Saturday on the Saturday after Thanksgiving has helped bring a greater awareness to need to support local retailers and encouraged many communities to host special events to help drive traffic to the community. “We’ve made it a whole weekend,” said Angie Hibben, CEO of the Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce. “But really, we want to celebrate a whole season of shopping local.” Shopping local is more than an idea, as time and again, studies show shopping local keeps more dollars in the community. The local retailers and their staff are a part of the community, living in our neighborhoods, sending their children to our schools and on the sidelines of local sport events too. There are multiple ways to shop local. There’s visiting retailers to purchase items
and gift cards. Additionally, the Oswego Area Chamber of Commerce offers Downtown Dollars, a paper gift card that can easily be redeemed throughout the downtown. The Downtown Dollars can be purchased from the Chamber office in denominations of $5 and greater and the certificate comes with a list of participating merchants. “This can be a great gift for teachers, school bus drivers, members of your staff to encourage them to discover a new place in town for a cup of coffee, to purchase a bottle of wine or maybe a new cardigan or maybe use it for a larger purchase,” Hibben said. She continued, “This is a gift that shows appreciation and encourages the one receiving it to take time to explore the town, discover a new place to enjoy lunch or treat themselves to pastry.” And with Downtown Dollars and other gift cards for local mechants, it keeps the message of shopping small going well after the holiday lights have been packed up. “It’s important to Shop Small, Shop Local, not just for one day, but make it all year round,” Hibben said.