City officials will find out Tuesday if they advance to voting round where winning city receives $500,000
CAMAS — Twelve thousand towns from across the U.S. submitted nominations for the Small Business Revolution Main Street competition, and now Camas is just days away from finding out if they will make it into the Top 5. The final Top 5 Towns will be announced Tuesday morning, February 12, at 5:30 a.m. Pacific time. People can watch the announcement on Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/smallbizrev.
Upon the announcement, the voting period will begin immediately and last for a week, with people able to cast their ballots on the Small Business Revolution website (www.smallbusinessrevolution.org) once per device per email per day.
The community accumulating the most votes will receive a $500,000 investment, which includes assistance and transformation of six small businesses — all of which will be filmed on location in Camas as part of an 8-part original Hulu TV series hosted by Ty Pennington and Amanda Brinkman.
Camas leaders are calling on the community to spread the message far and wide on social media with the #MyCamas hashtag – get ready to vote as often as possible beginning on Tuesday should the town make the final Top 5. You can see more about the #MyCamas movement at www.mycamas.net and by viewing this video (https://vimeo.com/315772233).
“We’re on the cusp of the rest of America finding out what everyone here already knows: that Camas is truly a great American small town,” said Carrie Schulstad, executive director for the Downtown Camas Association. “With that in mind, the opportunity to receive funding along with expertise from world-class marketers will help our merchants grow, thrive and overcome the obstacles that are challenging them at present.
“Camas is a town with unlimited potential and helping unlock it could be life-changing for our business owners,” continued Schulstad. “Having said that, even just making the top-10 has been a jolt of energy for our town. People are rallying together to help spread the word through the #MyCamas hashtag on social media, and no matter what happens, this energy will continue and help drive pride and growth in the city.”
In November it was announced that among the 12,000-plus applications submitted to the show, Camas had made the list of Top 10 Towns. In January, a crew from the show, including host Amanda Brinkman, visited Camas as city leaders, local businesses and advocates made their pitch for why Camas should make the Top 5.
The Small Business Revolution Main Street series showcases one small town and six of its small businesses each year. 2019 will be Season 4. The efforts are funded by Deluxe Corporation, a company that has been working with small businesses in marketing and finance for over a century.
The goal of the show is to document the joys and challenges of owning a small business, why supporting small businesses is so important to communities everywhere, and the powerful changes that can happen when effective and creative marketing and business management techniques are employed. The overall efforts lead to community pride and investment on a grand scale. Prior seasons can be watched on Hulu, YouTube or on www.smallbusinessrevolution.org.
For more information, visit www.mycamas.net, www.smallbusinessrevolution.org or www.facebook.com/smallbizrev .
Information courtesy of Downtown Camas Association.