A new campaign, #GrimbysGotIt, started by the town and the Grimsby and District Chamber of Commerce aims to encourage residents to support local businesses.
The funding for the campaign was originally provided to the town for a high-level industrial event from the Niagara region as part of an economic development fund. However, with the event cancelled because of COVID-19, the town opted to work with the chamber of commerce to repurpose the money into a "support local" initiative.
Rebecca Shelley, the executive director for Grimsby and District Chamber, said she was happy to say yes to town and collaborate with the town and as a result #GrimsbysGotIt was created.
“I think every town, especially as it relates to COVID-19, needs a really strong ‘support local’ initiative to galvanize community and businesses to come together,” Shelley said.
The hashtag, which can be shared on social media, is meant to “get people excited about our local businesses and support them wherever possible,” according to Shelley.
“We want consumers to understand how easy it is to support local and what a tremendously big impact small support local decisions make in your overall local economy," she said.
Customers of local businesses can submit their receipts on www.GrimbysGotIt.ca to enter a contest to possibly win gift certificates for the local business of their choosing.
To ensure fairness, contest winners are chosen at random once a receipt has been submitted, Shelley said.
Residents of the Grimsby area can expect direct mail informing them about the campaign, and Shelley said that for those who do not use or do not have access to the internet, manual interaction methods are currently in the works, to make the campaign and its contests easily accessible to all.
As of June 14, the campaign is officially live across Facebook and Instagram, and though some elements are still under construction, the website is mostly live as well.
