Holiday passport program back in the Coal City & Diamond area
The holidays are here which means its Shop Local Season and the Grundy County Chamber of Commerce & Industry reminds you the perfect gift for everyone on your list can be found right here in Grundy County.
“By shopping local we are not only supporting our local economy, but we are also supporting the business owners and their employees who live and work here,” Chamber President & CEO Christina Van Yperen said in a news release. “When we invest in them by doing business locally, they reinvest in our communities improving our quality of life as a whole.”
For every $100 spent at a local business, $68 of it stays in our local economy. By shopping local you are giving back to your own community, Van Yperen said.
Throughout the county local retailers have already started their Holiday Open House events and the shopping season kicked off on Small Business Saturday last week. In Coal City & Diamond the annual passport program is back as an incentive to doing your shopping where you live.
The Chamber’s Coalers Business Alliance is hosting its annual Eat, Drink, Shop & Be Merry passport program in Coal City and Diamond. The program kicked off on Small Business Saturday and goes through Dec. 17. Shop at participating locations and be rewarded for shopping local with a chance to win chamber gift certificates. Locations include: The Cove, Coal City Public Library, Mending Hearts Therapy, Rolando’s Furniture & Appliance, Minnie’s Travel Boutique, The Clubhouse, and Lori Bonarek Realty in Coal City and Yunker Motowerx, The QUEEN BEES, Blue Oval Rentals, Sunshine Garden Center and Hexagon Real Estate in Diamond. Grab a passport at any of these locations to get all of the details. Visit grundychamber.com or the Chamber’s Facebook page for more information.
For every $10 spent earns you a stamp, once you fill your card from participating locations you can submit it in the passport boxes at the locations or village halls for a chance to win Chamber gift certificates—$200, $100 and $50 worth! The programs go through Dec. 17 with winners being called by Dec. 20. A special thank you to Riverside Medical Center for sponsoring this program.
“As local business owners the holiday season is our busiest time of year and also the best time for us to connect with our customers,” Sunshine Garden Center owner Sarah Beach said. “When you come in to our stores to shop for your family we get to be a part of your traditions and nothing means more to us.”
Choosing the perfect gift can sometimes be hard to decide, so when all else fails you can still keep your gift local with a Grundy County Chamber Gift Certificate. Chamber gift certificates can only be spent locally with chamber members and your money goes right to the chamber member business. Pick one up at the Chamber’s Morris office, 909 Liberty Street, or pre-order online for pick up at grundychamber.com.
