Kankakee County Launches 2015 Small Business Saturday Campaign
KANKAKEE, IL – November 3, 2015 – For the first time, Kankakee County small business owners are collaborating to promote special discounts and boost foot traffic during the popular nationwide retail promotion Small Business Saturday. The event, set for Saturday, November 28, will involve retailers across the county that have opted to participate in the free cooperative marketing campaign being driven by the Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce.
“The Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce is always looking for new and innovative ways of promoting current and prospective small business members,” explained KCCC Executive Director Barbi Brewer-Watson. “This time, it is about creating a dedicated online portal for retailers to easily upload their Small Business Saturday deals and for the public to access and share the specials via a desktop computer or mobile device.”
The dedicated web page for Kankakee County’s Small Business Saturday event where coupons can be created by businesses and downloaded by the public is accessible at http://www.kankakeecountychamber.com/shop-small. Specials are being added on an ongoing basis through November 27. The KCCC is supplementing digital marketing with local print and radio promotion.
Chamber membership is not required for businesses to participate in the special Small Business Saturday retail promotion.
Kankakee County’s 2015 Small Business Saturday initiative is a project of the KCCC Business and Entrepreneurial Development Committee, chaired by Scott Snavely of Midland States Bank and Lisa Wogan of the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County. Committee members include Jesse Erickson of Olivet Nazarene University, Paige DeRuiter of Riverside Healthcare Foundation, Jim Kuckie of Spa Remedy, Ken Crite of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at KCC, and Kristina Back of Little Caesars Pizza and Biggby Coffee. The 2015 Kankakee County Small Business Saturday digital campaign is powered by Bourbonnais’ LinkPoint Media.
American Express launched the first-ever Small Business Saturday on November 27, 2010, to encourage people across the country to support small, local businesses. More than 100 million people are reported to have “Shopped Small” in 2014, generating a record $14.3 billion in sales.
“In just a few short years, Small Business Saturday went from an idea to help Small Business find more customers, to a permanent fixture on the holiday shopping calendar,” said Susan Sobbott, president, American Express OPEN. “According to the research, we are seeing the small business community take ownership of the day and make it their own.”
The Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit incorporated group serving the Aroma Park, Bourbonnais, Bradley and Kankakee areas .The KCCC unites businesses small and large, creating a central agency to improve prosperity and build a better community through networking, cooperative marketing and legislative advocacy. Visit the KCCC at 200 E. Court St., Suite 710, Kankakee, IL 60901, online at kankakeecountychamber.com. Phone 815.351.9068. Email info@kankakeecountychamber.com.