By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville —The Ortonville Downtown Development Authority has received national recognition for their Small Business Saturday program. They were awarded third place in the Small Business Saturday Neighborhood Champion Innovation contest.
“To connect with the next generation of shoppers, Ortonville used selfie photo frames for their Local Gem Sweepstakes, provided regular updates on their social media sites, and created volunteer opportunities for next-generation audiences such as social media programming, event set-up and take-down, and distributing materials to local businesses,” said Liz Shenk, manager of marketing and outreach for Main Street America.
Ortonville took third place, a $1,000 prize. First place winner was Sweetwater, Tenn., and second place was Chicago. The Local Gems campaign and the Small Business Saturday program focused on retail pop-ups in vacant storefronts and community spaces, as well as using the selfie frames at participating businesses for a sweepstakes and to drive commerce into the businesses.
“Winning national recognition makes us feel pretty good,” said Matt Jenkins, DDA director. “However, we don’t create Shop Ortonville initiatives for the recognition. We create them to help our local business thrive. Special thanks to the response from our community and local shoppers, we couldn’t succeed without their support.”