Making Tracks: A lot of local excitement
Recently here at the Chamber we’ve gotten a ton of great news, and so has the Rhinelander area! Just last week we saw record breaking attendance at the Hodag Country Festival, which means awesome things for the Rhinelander community, and when Chamber member businesses are happy and busy, so are we! Plus, in case you haven’t heard, the Hodag is making a little appearance on Aug. 3 in a new episode of Scooby Doo. I’ve done numerous interviews all over the state with different media outlets. The news has made its way to the state Chamber of Commerce and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism and I’ve already seen them spreading the good news as well. Our Hodag is becoming even more famous, and hopefully we’ll see more people heading this way to meet the real thing. We are riding a huge high as tons of people are talking about Rhinelander!
Now I hope we can keep building on this great momentum and see things happen in our community. One way you can get involved is to get on board with I Buy Local – Rhinelander, WI. This new campaign kicked off just a few weeks ago, and is a cooperative effort between the Chamber and Downtown Rhinelander, Inc. Our entire goal is to get you, the consumer, to look for the products and services you need in the Rhinelander community instead of going elsewhere.
The reasons to shop at our local businesses are numerous. Every time you spend your dollars to get a product or service in Rhinelander, you are helping to keep your family, friends and neighbors employed. And employed individuals return the favor and shop at your business because they now have dollars to spend. Also, local businesses give back to the programs and projects that we all come to expect in our community-things like our local schools, hospitals and non-profits. For every dollar spent locally, 68 cents stays right here in our local economy and continues the cycle of spending and supporting.
What I think is most important to keep in mind is that this campaign is not just a push for retail businesses. I’ve got a great committee of volunteers helping to make this campaign happen, and we are hoping to help each and every business that employs people in the Rhinelander community, offers services to the Rhinelander community and works to help keep our town unique, vibrant and growing.
If you are a local business, I want you to call the Chamber and find out how you can get involved, but more importantly I’m talking to all of us as consumers. If each and every person in Rhinelander stops and consciously looks to find what it is they need from a Rhinelander business first, we all win. Nine times out of 10 what you are looking for is available from a business located right here in the town you call home. A town I hope each and every one of you are as proud to live in as I am. If you might be wondering where you can find a business that offers a specific product or service, give our office a call, and we’ll do our best to find you a local option.
If you have questions about getting involved as a business, you can call the chamber office or find one of our great volunteers, Ben Rosenthal, Carl Johnson, Dan Kuzlik, Joan Belongia or Ray Burgan. We are all passionate and excited to tell you all about what we’ve been working on. When we all buy local, we all win!
Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lara Reed is available at (715) 365-7464.
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