Glen Hall, president of the Minto Chamber of Commerce, and Caitlin Hall (no relation to Glen), the chamber’s new promotions coordinator, updated council on the new “buy local” campaign being launched in the new year.
The chamber has received two grants totaling nearly $20,000. The first has allowed the chamber to hire Caitlin Hall until March 31, 2010. Hall is a Minto resident who owns and operates a seasonal business, Re-Root Organic CSA. She has experience working with non-profit organizations to develop programs that have long-term sustainability. Hall is already in the process of visiting Minto businesses to update the membership directory, educate members on upcoming programs, and promote the benefits of membership in the Minto Chamber of Commerce.
The second grant is for a Local Initiatives program and will be used for the “buy local” campaign. Glen Hall told council there are three elements to the campaign, beginning with a Minto Bucks promotion. There will also be a shopping bag promotion that will put a shopping bag in each Minto household along with incentives to buy local. The third element is an awareness campaign that includes such items as Christmas tags and newspaper promotions.
The grants are through the Saugeen Economic Development Corporation and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.
“It’s going to be an exciting year,” said the chamber president. “There are a lot of things happening to get people to ‘think Minto first’ when they shop.”
He is especially pleased with the Minto Bucks promotion that will allow Minto businesses to purchase the coupons at a discount and distribute them to people who will spend them in Minto.
Mayor David Anderson said he was looking forward to continuing the partnership between the town and chamber.