Spark Local Blog | by Giverrang

Because Giverrang works with and solicits communities all across the country, I've had the rare and distinct pleasure of spending time on literally thousands of economic development websites from Main Street communities, to Chambers, to Economic Development Commissions, to Tourism boards, and more.  In my online travels I came across the County of Charlotte, Florida. The Economic Development Office put together a well thought out, clear, and engaging website . Amongst the "hits" for me was seeing their staff bio section featuring short video intros of their staff members. This is super unique and piqued my interested immediately. How unique? It's the first time I have seen this tactic in the thousands of sites I've visited! No joke.  Screenshot of one of the staff bio's. Notice the green "Play Bio Video" link on the bottom left. Why hello, Dave! Sometimes deviating from traditional or "what's worked" can get you in trouble. You don...

Company aims to boost local spending and bring attention to small businesses  Bristol, Connecticut FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: A New England startup company has just launched 209 different community gift card programs in Maine – each specific to a town or city.  The programs offer unique targeted support to local businesses since the gift card can be spent at any independent business in that particular town or city but not at big chains like McDonald's or Wal-mart ( see list of ME card programs ).  The company behind the programs is Connecticut-based Giverrang, which builds Community Gift Card programs for towns and cities to drive spending to small businesses and keep more dollars local. “The whole idea is to funnel more dollars and attention to small businesses,” explained Mark Walerysiak Jr., Head of Card Programs at Giverrang. “The big guys have the benefit of having huge resources behind them so we really want to help the small guys as much as possible.” Interested buyer...

Company aims to boost local spending and draw attention to small businesses  Bristol, Connecticut FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: A Bristol-based startup company has just launched 169 different gift card programs for each town or city in Connecticut. Each program offers unique targeted support to local businesses by offering gift cards that can only be spent at independent businesses in that particular town or city ( list of CT card programs ).  The company behind the programs is Giverrang, which builds Community Gift Card programs for towns and cities to drive local spending to small businesses and keep more dollars local.  Each Connecticut town or city gift card can be spent at any independent business in that town or city. Cards intentionally can not be spent at chain stores like Mcdonald's or Walmart. Interested buyers can visit each card program’s web page to purchase a card (like the Hartford Local Gift Card ), and to see a selection of suggested merchants approved to accep...

What is ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act)? Also referred to as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, this $1.9 trillion government sponsored package was meant to buoy the economy in 2021 in the face of economic upheaval and tens of thousands of small business closures across the US. It was also used to curb the uncertainty that faced many more small businesses and households across the US as the Coronavirus continued to pose an unpredictable threat to public health and local economies across the country.  What are ARPA funds being spent on?  Much of the ARPA money went to funding a diverse set of initiatives to encourage rapid recovery such as household stimulus checks, emergency paid leave, expansion of food stamp benefits, rental assistance programs, funding for COVID testing and vaccine sites, agriculture support, grants for small businesses, and more .  Also in the wash of the diversely sprayed funds, a significant purse (~ $350 billion) was trickled do...

  Every economic developer wants their community to be vibrant and their small businesses to thrive. But why is it easier in some locations than others? The main reason is culture. That elusive little word is often the difference between the local business environment succeeding and failing.  In places that are born and bred off the back of local products like Portland, ME, a shop local culture is ubiquitous in the fabric of every food or retail shop you walk into. But that foundation was laid from somewhere - decades of emphasis on local sourcing and production. Generations now inherently understand its importance to the way of living in the area. If your community does not have as fortunate a starting point, the best way to create a public understanding of why it is good to shop local, and to set a perpetual flywheel of support in motion for it, is to kindly assault the public with programs that adjust the psychological tenor in favor of a shop local culture.  It's in t...