A new feature is coming to Golden in hopes of supporting local businesses and shoppers.
The Kicking Horse Country Chamber of Commerce is installing a new LED sign outside of its building to promote local businesses in hopes that more people will think to shop locally and support Golden’s economy.
The idea came about when chamber of commerce executive director Shelly Wadden was reading an expansion report about small communities, and one of the comments was that the tendency for residents to shop outside of the community was quite high, because they didn’t know what products and services were offered where they live.
“That might sound a bit silly, because we live in a small town, and how can you not know what’s available?” Wadden asked. “But, we need reminders constantly for out daily activities, work, you need to be reminded about a dentist appointment, you need to be reminded that you need to pick something up at a certain time. If it’s not on your radar or it’s not in your routine, you might not be aware, or you might have forgotten that this product is available locally.”
The chamber of commerce already has a sign outside of its building, but it takes constant upkeep to update the sign, removing and replacing the letters.
The new sign will feature multiple businesses at a time, and be similar to the LED sign that the Town of Golden has outside of the arena, which can display multiple messages.
“We have a really great opportunity here, so let’s utilize that and go after it,” Wadden said.
The funding for purchasing the sign was received in a grant, and a couple businesses in town have agreed to help install it and get it running.
“This is a great local collaborating,” Wadden said, adding that the companies will be compensated with advertising space. “They saw value in having advertising on the sign and were able to work with us.”
There is no concern for the chamber that the sign will cost anything more. Wadden believes the sign will actually save the chamber some money, because nobody will have to go out and replace the letters. Instead, it will be as simple as updating the sign from a computer or smartphone, she explained.
“It’s really a win win win for everyone. It benefits businesses in that they are able to showcase their products and services,” she explained. “There’s 12,000 passers by a day from the Ministry of Transportation in this area. That’s a lot of people that get to see the sign on a daily business.”
Businesses will be able to showcase their products and services, and the LED sign will allow for targeted marketing. If a business wants to highlight a lunch special, those specials can show during lunch hours specifically. The sign also allows the chamber to show important safety messages if needed, like if the highway closes and traffic is being rerouted.
“That’s where strategic marketing comes in,” she explained. “Right now, we can only advertise two things at one time, so it’s really limited. The new sign has a lot of capacity. You can have a lot of adverts.”
