SALISBURY – As local eateries and retail shops struggle during the global health crisis, the City of Salisbury is taking steps to drum up support for local businesses.
Mayor Jake Day said efforts to support small businesses began last month, shortly after Gov. Larry Hogan announced the closure of restaurants, bars, gyms and movie theaters to stop the spread of COVID-19. Through a series of business roundtable meetings, he said, officials focused on actions both government entities and community members could take to minimize the economic impact on small businesses.
“It wasn’t enough to act fast, we needed to be consistent,” he said. “So we’ve held those roundtable discussions every Tuesday, which are mainly focused on recovery efforts.”
Day noted one of the first industries to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic was the food service industry. He said the local real estate community reported this week 60% of eateries did not pay their rent for the month of March.
“We started talking about ways we could help,” he said.
To that end, officials took to social media to promote local restaurants in the Salisbury area by ordering carryout meals and posting pictures to Facebook and Twitter.
“It helped in the early days,” Day said. “We were demonstrating this wasn’t about helping small businesses when we get through all of this, but helping them out right now. The need was immediate.”
The city and KindSBY – the community’s kindness initiative – also teamed up to launch a giving portal to support first responders during the pandemic. Through community donations to Wicomico Grows Kindness, a nonprofit for KindSBY, meals are being purchased from locally owned restaurants to feed first responders and healthcare workers.
“It was an opportunity for people in the community to donate,” Day said. “With donated funds we bought $3,500 worth of food for nurses, doctors and first responders, and we spent it at local businesses. We continue to encourage people to give through that fund.”
Day said community members can also purchase gift cards to downtown restaurants and retail shops through the city’s Downtown Salisbury website.
“It’s everything from Angello’s Scoops to the Lurking Class Skate Shop to Shady Sun to Enza’s Organic Salon,” he said. “It’s not just restaurants, but retailers too. They are also hurting.”
Most recently, the city launched its SBY Takeout Bingo, a game that rewards community members who support local restaurants. Those who order food, merchandise or gift cards to any four restaurants listed on the Bingo card will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to a Salisbury restaurant of their choice and a Downtown Salisbury swag basket.
Day said participants will receive one entry for every four locations patronized. Patrons are asked to take pictures or screenshots of their receipts and submit them through the city’s online submission form no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 15.
“It encourages the community to diversify and spread the love to different businesses,” he said.
Day said Salisbury is one of many municipalities across Delmarva to adopt programs and campaigns to support local businesses. Each Monday, Day holds a teleconference with local elected officials across Maryland, Delaware and Virginia to share their efforts.
“Every community is coming up with creative ways to do this, coming up with ways to help small businesses …,” he said. “It’s good to see us learning from each other. … I’m impressed by our community’s willingness and desire to help these businesses … To see people jumping in and saying, ‘I want to give what I have to help a small business’ is moving and powerful.”
