PRINCE RUPERT – We know businesses are the lifeblood of a community, they employ local workers, provide valuable goods and services, support other businesses and they give back generously to the communities they serve.
This year the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce attempted to find out the actual dollar value of that generous business support in our community. A survey was sent out the membership with a total of 100 responding with how much their organization had donated to local “good causes” in 2014. The final tally was a stunning $2 million.
Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce President Rosa Miller shares, “As part of encouraging people to shop locally, we wanted to show that when your money is spent in town it is used to support the community.” Recognizing the total value of that investment in the community was an important goal for the Chamber.
“Being able to quantify this support in a real number shows us the ROI on dollars spent in the community is enormous, we hope individuals will consider that when they do their Holiday shopping this year.”
Without this support for local teams, organizations, events and more those groups wouldn’t be able to offer the services that make Prince Rupert the great place it is. Miller adds, “$2 million is an impressive number and that’s only 100 of our member businesses. You can imagine what the grand total might be with more than 1200 businesses in Prince Rupert.”
The survey respondents also included local non-profits who also support the community with in-kind donations of their services, venues etc. Harder to quantify is the donation of volunteer time, businesses often provide significant volunteer hours to support events and programs and their success.
At a time when volunteers are harder to come by across the board this support is invaluable. Says Miller, “It never ceases to amaze me, the generosity of businesses in the community. They never hesitate to step forward to support organizations and events in the community.”
– Simone Clark is Manager of Communications of the Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at 250-624-2296 or simone@princerupertchamber.ca.
