Small Business Revolution Spending 2 Days in North Adams
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Small Business Revolution rolled into the city Thursday — and the weather, of course, didn't cooperate. Fog covered the city's mountain views and rain dissuaded any walking tours.
Well, it is the Berkshires.
Friday is expected to be cooler but sunny and the SBR team will be visiting as many places as possible beginning early in the morning.
The Small Business Revolution is a movement spearheaded by Minnesota-based Deluxe Corp. to highlight the challenges and opportunities of small towns and local businesses across the nation. For the second year, it's picking one small town to highlight. The smallest city in the Bay State made the semifinals along with seven other communities for a visit by the team and Amanda Brinkman, Deluxe's chief brand and communications officer.
If it makes it to the top, it's in line for a $500,000 boost to the downtown area.
"Small businesses are what make small towns great and unique and we're just so proud to be representing and advancing that conversation in the nation," Brinkman said on Thursday night at a get-together at Bright Ideas Brewing.
Bright Ideas — one of the newest ventures to light up the downtown — was homebase Thursday for the SBR team, including a meetup with Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts President Jamie Birge, owners of Greylock Works, representatives from the proposed model railroad museum and other business and community leaders. After lunch, City Council President Benjamin Lamb (who helped spearhead the effort) and others were filmed in interviews that will be shown if the city makes it to the next round.
Members of the production team were able to get out later to visit a number of sites, including the Berkshire Emporium on Main Street. The city's events coordinator Suzy Helme pulled Thursday's event together to ensure business owners had a chance to speak with team.
Brinkman, who co-hosted the eight-part Small Business Revolution series last summer that featured Wabash, Ind., arrived later in the day and will be in the city until Friday afternoon. The production crew will be here until Saturday.
"We know deep in our hearts that something special is going on here because if you talk to each person, you find a story that links us all together," said Ricco Fruscio, the North Adams Chamber of Commerce's program coordinator, in introducing Brinkman at Thursday evening's gathering. "There's a weaving of love of the area and a story of how you ended up here. ... I think you should share that with Amanda and I think they're finding that out as they spend more time here."
Brinkman said Deluxe's goal was to create something that could be a resource and inspiration to other communities and other small businesses beyond what could be featured in the series.
"That they can watch and learn how to really rally a small-town community around small businesses," she said. "When you guys tell people to visit North Adams you tell them to go to Persnickety Toys, you tell them to go to Eagle Street Music, and Jack's for the legendary hot dogs."
Brinkman easily mingled with the crowd, listening to stories of North Adams. Keith Bona of Berkshire Emporium, an artist, created a welcome sign on the shop's window with Brinkman's face.
So he went up to her and said, "I know you, you're on my window." Brinkman had already seen the sign posted to Instagram. "She loved it," he said.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said he let them know he had been a 33-year customer of Deluxe when he'd been working at the former Hoosac Bank. The company provides printing, marketing and other resources to small businesses, including checks.
"I did let them know I had the longest relationship with Deluxe in the building," he said. "They're big enough to do anything and small enough to provide extreme customer service and I always loved that about them. ...
"It's just great to have them here, to be one of eight in something like this is so relevant, so important to what could happen to downtown business."
The SBR team headed to Public for dinner (they'll be going to a couple more local restaurants); Helme and Lamb will take turns guiding them around on Friday.
"No matter what happens, just feel great about having gotten to this point," Brinkman said. "What we've been hearing from this ... this process reminds you why you love it here."
Tags: downtown, small business,
