Support Downtown Business, Win Gift Card

Part of Third Street became Old World 3rd Street. Photo by Carl Baehr.

If you’ve been supporting local businesses in the downtown area lately you can enter a drawing to win gift cards that will further support local business. Got that?

Over this past weekend the Milwaukee Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) launched what its Economic Development Director, Matt Dorner, is calling a “gift card purchase stimulus package.”

If you have supported a local business recently, you can tell Milwaukee Downtown how you did so and they will enter your name in a drawing. You can tweet them here, or message on Facebook and Instagram. The entries for the drawing will close Wednesday at noon.

Any form of support for a local business is considered a valid entry to the drawing. Maybe you recently became a member of Milwaukee Film or got takeout from a local restaurant, or perhaps you bought a gift card to a local business.

The downtown BID donated $2,500 and the Downtown Neighbors Association and another organization contributed a combined $1,500 towards buying gift cards for the drawing.

Erica Chang, director of marketing, events and social media for the downtown BID, said the group has already gotten more than 350 responses demonstrating how Milwaukeeans are supporting local businesses.

“What’s been most inspiring is Milwaukee getting really specific about how they support local businesses,” Chang said.

The drive is intended to support local business, but it’s also aimed at starting a conversation around how the community can support local business. The BID is planning to roll out even more opportunities for community engagement and support in the coming weeks, Chang said.

And for businesses struggling right now, Chang said the BID has information about resources for local business owners on their website.