Inthe News
Sheetz, Inc. plays “gargantuan” role in “Buy Here. Live Here.” promotion
Last Thursday’s kickoff of “Buy Here. Live Here.” was the culmination of an incredible amount of hard work by people from practically all segments of the business community. While much work remains to be done in assuring that the message endures over a long period of time, it’s important to reflect on what has allowed BHLH to gain early momentum.
To Randy Green of McCartney’s, Inc., who chairs the BHLH Steering Committee, it’s only necessary to take a look at where the program’s predecessor – Buy the Alleghenies – found itself in terms of acceptance and effectiveness when its promotional component ran aground.
“When the message wasn’t clear, when the organizational piece wasn’t well-defined and when the ability of the participating chambers to sustain it financially was in question, it lost its way,” Green acknowledged. “We had no reason to believe that replacing Buy the Alleghenies with a more localized effort under the same constraints would fare any better. Something needed to change the total dynamic.”
In the case of BHLH, it wasn’t “something” as much as it was “someone.” That someone turned out to be Sheetz, Inc.
“From the very beginning – from the first conversation that Joe Hurd and I had with Louie Sheetz – we understood the level of commitment that was necessary to build something meaningful and enduring. We were hoping that Sheetz would provide some direction. We could never have imagined that they would have committed to so much more.”
What Sheetz has done is essentially design the message, help identify the target audience and allocate the resources that have the laid the groundwork for a project from which, because of their broad geographic reach, they likely have little to gain.
“In a world where hardly anything is done that isn’t ultimately self-serving, Sheetz did something because it needed to be done and because we asked for their help,” disclosed Hurd, the President of The Chamber. “I have no idea how much they’ve spent to make all of this possible and I’ve never once had the impression that they’ve wanted credit for having done anything. Their impact on this has been gargantuan and our community will be so much better because of it.”
Hurd also threw accolades to the Blair County Chamber’s Board of Directors.
“We needed money to get this started and our Board took a calculated risk by agreeing to allocate money from our investment fund. It’s not money that we’ll get back. It’s an investment in Blair County that will pay considerable dividends for the people who live and work here and who will live and work here in the future. As an organization, it’s what we’re all about.”
For more information on Buy Here. Live Here., contact Joe Hurd at 943-8151 or email him at jhurd@blairchamber.com.