Last year, the City and the Chamber partnered to create a Local Rapid Recovery Plan with funding from the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development. One of the projects identified was the creation of an online shopping platform for local businesses. As you may recall, The Chamber has partnered with the City of Easthampton’s Planning Dept. and was awarded technical assistance to develop a COVID-19 recovery strategic plan. Shop Where I Live is one of the projects listed as an important component of building consistent resilience and economic recovery.
Through this Chamber/City Partnership, we have been awarded a $15,000 grant from The Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD) for the Regional Economic Development Organization (REDO) Grant Program for a two-year pilot for Shop Where I Live.
“This platform brings our local businesses into the online marketplace. It represents an important opportunity to help small businesses build resiliency not only as a result of the COVID-19 crisis but for the long term as well”, said Moe Belliveau executive director of the Greater Easthampton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Customers can browse and buy online from many local businesses on a single website. They can choose local in-store or curbside pickup, or have their purchase delivered to their doorstep directly, from each business, all with just a single checkout.
“Programs like this will help businesses evolve in response to the pandemic and be more sustainable. Alongside initiatives such as Blueprint Easthampton which give support to new entrepreneurs, assisting with creating a hyper-local option to shop online is a perfect fit for Easthampton’s continued economic growth,” said Mayor Nicole LaChapelle.
The City and the Chamber are excited about the potential of this innovative way to support Shop Local. Customers can feel good knowing that every purchase they make on Shop Where I Live goes directly to a local business in our area. If you want to see the other projects identified in the Local Rapid Recovery Plan, click here.
We are in the process of the site buildout so stay tuned for the official launch this summer!!
Click Here for more information
