Local businesses participating in Big Spend
In 2020, as small businesses suffered through the worst of the pandemic, a national initiative, designed to promote and support local businesses across the country, managed to drum up about $20 million in local spending and $100 million in economic impact in a single day.
“While the initial pain of Covid is hopefully behind us, the economic challenges it left behind are real,” says the Big Spend website. “So we’re bringing The Big Spend back in 2023 with a plan for an even bigger impact.”
On April 28-30, the Tumbler Ridge Chamber is encouraging people to shop local. “$20 spent at a local business tends to circulate locally,” says Chamber of Commerce Vice-President Trent Ernst. “You pay it to a hairdresser who pays it to their babysitter who buys treats at Lush Deserts. They use that money to pay their employee who goes and shops at the local grocery store…meanwhile, that $20 spent at Amazon goes into a giant bank account somewhere in the sky where it sits, not circulating about the town, not being spent and re-spent to help local businesses, but stuck in a bank, sucking more money out of the economy.”
Right now a number of Tumbler Ridge businesses are signed up to participate. Between April 28 and April 30, residents are encouraged to visit the Big Spend website, at
www.thebigspend.com, to find a list of participating businesses. If you purchase from a participating business, record what you spent at the website.
“Of course, this is Tumbler Ridge,” says Ernst. “It’s pretty easy to pick out the small businesses here. Not all the small businesses are participating, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t still support them. Not all the small businesses are members of the Chamber of Commerce, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t support them.
“Every day, small businesses in this town are taking a risk to bring you a variety of products and services. There’s not a lot of people here, which means they don’t have as big a population to draw from. If you don’t support them, who will?”
Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jerrilyn Kirk says “The Tumbler Ridge Chamber is excited to bring the big spend to Tumbler Ridge. We have been working with the organizers and hope to be part of the success of the big spend.”
To find out more about the Big Spend or to participate, contact the local chamber at 250-242-3620, or visit www.thebigspend.com
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
