Mel Foster Co. agents and staff supported more than 160 businesses during the company’s 2022 Think.Buy.Be.Local Small Business week challenge.
Each year, Mel Foster Co. agents and staff are encouraged to support local businesses in the neighborhoods where they live, work, and play on Small Business Saturday. This year, Mel Foster Co. extended Small Business Saturday into a weeklong event, which wrapped up on Dec. 1, to allow more visits to more local businesses, the real estate brokerage said in a news release.
To help promote the small businesses they love, agents and staff snapped a photo of themselves shopping, posted the photo to Facebook and tagged the local business and Mel Foster Co.
To encourage participation and further support local businesses, Mel Foster Co. bought gift cards from local businesses and the agent/staff member shopping and taking photos was entered into a company drawing for each posted photo.
The company said it also decided to boost local businesses and add some fun for the company’s agents and staff by providing each person with a custom Mel Foster Co. growler to fill with their beverage of choice from participating businesses. Thirteen local businesses from the Quad Cities and surrounding area joined in by providing growler fills of beer, cider, cold brew coffee, kombucha or soda purchased by Mel Foster Co.
Lynsey Engels, president of Mel Foster Co. Real Estate Brokerage, stressed in the company’s news release the importance of buying local.
“We are a local, family-owned business, so we understand how important it is to shop local and use local service providers. When we all support each other with our business, we build a stronger community where more businesses and families can thrive,” Ms. Engels said.
“We understand the challenges many small business owners have faced in the last two years and know there are still challenges finding staff and sourcing supplies that have risen in cost. That’s why we dedicated a full week to supporting small businesses this year,” she added. “It’s not something we just get on board with one day of the year or even one week each year. Supporting fellow small businesses is an important part of our culture, and we strive to Think.Buy.Be.Local throughout the year.”
