Tourism Langley and the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce are teaming up to launch the ‘Share the Local Love’ campaign.
The new initiative aims to encourage residents to support local businesses past the holiday season and into 2022.
Through this newly launched program, local businesses can seek help to improve their social media and marketing efforts.
Additionally, special incentives will be introduced to attract locals and people around Metro Vancouver to Langley.
Tourism Langley received $60,000 funding for this campaign through Shop Local BC, an initiative supported by the federal government’s strategic activities program and delivered through the BC Chamber of Commerce.
The entire funding amount will be used for marketing-related programs as “Tourism Langley don’t need the fund to operate,” said Colleen Clark, CEO of Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce.
This funding opportunity came after the BC Chamber of Commerce announced that they had received $5 million in June 2021 from the federal government for Shop Local BC.
Langley’s chamber then reached out to the provincial chamber to apply for funds.
Since federal funding requires an entity to be either a Business Improvement Area (BIA) or a chamber of commerce, a collaboration was essential for the campaign to get off the ground, explained Clark.
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“They [Tourism Langley] are going to run most of the project and we are here to support and help on social media,” she elaborated.
Talking about Tourism Langley’s role in the campaign, executive director Erinn Kredba said her team would be taking the lead.
“We are going to lead on the content creation… our goal is to create awareness in general about shopping local. Many of the activities under this campaign are something we have already done in the past… like helping small businesses with photography,” said Kredba.
Acknowledging the rising COVID cases, Clark said if people don’t want to go outside or meet in person, they can still buy local.
“A lot of our local businesses are offering online services and in-store pickup services. During the pandemic, of course, the opportunity to travel is less. But, fortunately we have so many places like the zoo and museum where people can enjoy as long as they are following protocols… so be a tourist in your own town,” said Clark.
Kredba shared the same sentiments and added that people from all across Metro Vancouver can still explore Langley even during the pandemic.
“No matter what the restriction has been in the past two years, there has never been a time where a Langley resident couldn’t support or shop local. Even for the residents of Metro Vancouver… we are sitting on the doorstep,” she explained.
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Kredba considers the campaign an “excellent” opportunity for all the local businesses in Langley, who were impacted by the travel restrictions.
“All businesses in Langley will benefit from this promotion of local goods, services, and experiences. Langley has so much to choose from, we are going to share that local love with the rest of the Lower Mainland,” she said.
Representatives of both organizations expressed gratitude to the federal and provincial government for the support and assured local businesses of support and assistance.
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