Sackville’s Manager of Tourism and Business Development Ron Kelly Spurles told town council on Monday that only two or three businesses have taken advantage of a subsidy program being offered to local businesses to encourage them to join the Moncton Chamber of Commerce.
The Town of Sackville is offering to pay half the fees for new members that join, and is partnering with Mainstreet Redevelopment on a join campaign, originally slated to wrap up at the end of December. That campaign and the discount have been extended to the end of February.
The eventual goal is to establish a Sackville chapter for the Chamber of Commerce, but that would take about 15 to 20 members, according to CAO Jamie Burke, who spoke to CHMA in November.
To help drum up interest, the town and the Moncton Chamber are hosting a free virtual workshop on “pivoting and business plans during COVID 19” The workshop will be held at the usual time for the town’s local business virtual meet up, on January 26th at 7pm.
Anyone interested can contact Ron Kelly Spurles or the Moncton Chamber to register.
At Monday’s meeting, councillors also heard the report on the recent Holiday Passport program. 278 passports were turned in, each representing at least $100 in local spending. That’s up from participation in the fall local shopping passport, which saw 35 completed passports turned in to town hall.
One lucky passport-filler won a $1000 local shopping spree, courtesy of the town of Sackville. Deputy Mayor Ron Aiken drew the winning passport live during Monday’s meeting, so as to avoid, “any American-style election controversy,” he said, with a smile.
