Our Small Business Season Christmas Wish: Supporting Local in 2025

January 2, 2025

The holiday season always seems to bring out the best in everyone—acts of kindness, bestowing grace, being a little more patient with people. During Small Business Season, many of us consciously choose to shop local and support the small businesses that make our community unique. It’s a beautiful time where we feel the power of community.


So what if we carried that spirit with us throughout the year? It’s our Christmas wish.


But more than that, it’s part of our agenda—promoting small businesses and assisting them in gaining traction. We hope you’ll join us.


The Year of Small Business—Good for Our Community


At the beginning of every year, many people vow to do something to make their lives better or healthier. We’re asking you to do the same with us, but you needn’t give up cake or cookies to do it.

Our community’s small businesses are the heart and soul of our local economy. They are the cornerstones of our neighborhoods, supporting local jobs, contributing to community events, and fostering a sense of connection and identity. By continuing to support them all year long, we’re not just making a purchase—we’re making an investment in the vitality of our community. We’re improving its health, and doesn’t that sound good?


Why Support Small Businesses Year-Round 


Some people worry it’s more expensive or inconvenient to support local businesses. But what is truly inconvenient is having to shop and dine elsewhere because our stores, restaurants, and other businesses are no longer open. Patronizing a business is a “vote” to keep them around.

Local businesses:


Keep Dollars Local 


For every dollar spent at a small business, a significant portion (as much as 68%) stays in the community, supporting schools, public services, and other local initiatives. Shopping local creates a positive ripple effect that benefits everyone. 


Foster Community Character 


Our local businesses give our community its charm and uniqueness. When we support them, we’re preserving the character of our town and ensuring others can enjoy it, too. 


Create Jobs 


Small businesses are the largest employers nationwide. By supporting them, we help sustain and create local jobs, keeping our neighbors and friends employed. 


Support Each Other 


Many small businesses collaborate with one another, purchasing goods or services locally. When we support one business, we often support a chain of local enterprises. 


Are Invested in Us 


Small business owners are our neighbors. They sponsor youth sports teams, donate to local charities, and step up to support the community when it matters most. By supporting them, we’re reciprocating that commitment. 


Ways to Keep the Spirit Alive Year-Round


If you’re ready to join us in our vow to shop local first, consider the following:

·        Shop Local First. Before heading to big box stores or online giants, check to see if a local business offers what you need. 

·        Dine Local. Treat yourself to meals at local restaurants, cafes, and bakeries. 

·        Buy Gift Cards. Small businesses appreciate cash flow, and gift cards are a great way to share your favorites with others. 

·        Spread the Word. Share positive reviews online and tell your friends about great local experiences. Word of mouth is powerful. 

·        Attend Local Events. Many businesses participate in markets, fairs, and other community events. Show up and support them! 

·        Be Loyal. Build relationships with local businesses and become a regular. 


Imagine the Impact 


If each of us made just one small business purchase a week, it would create a significant impact on our local economy. Over time, these consistent actions could lead to exponential growth that benefits everyone. 


Let’s keep the spirit of Small Business Season alive—because our community’s businesses aren’t just for the holidays. They’re here for us year-round, and they deserve (and need!) our support. Together, we can build a stronger, more vibrant local economy, one purchase at a time. 



Let’s make this year the year of supporting small businesses every day. Are you in?

June 9, 2025
The year's midpoint is your wake-up call—refocus now to finish strong. Scrutinize your numbers to find what’s working (and what’s not). Reboot your marketing before seasonal shifts hit. Remove workflow roadblocks to boost team output. Reconnect with your business’s core purpose. 597 Words ~ 3 minute read The midpoint of the year often hits like a reality check: goals half-met, momentum lagging, and a to-do list that keeps growing. But this moment is also a strategic gift: a reset button that can set you up for a stronger, smarter second half. Here are five high-impact moves to help you reset with intention and finish the year with confidence: 1. Run the Numbers, Then Rewrite the Playbook Take a hard look at your financials. Are you ahead, behind, or coasting? Scrutinize revenue trends, margins, and expenses. Identify what’s draining resources and double down on what’s driving growth. Use the insights to reshape your financial strategy for the next six months, because winging it isn’t a plan. 2. Reboot Your Marketing Before the Fall Rush If your marketing has lost steam, this is your window to revive it. Launch a seasonal promotion, refine your messaging, or test new channels to re-engage your audience. And don’t wait to prep for fall. Holiday planning starts now. Review your content calendar, track past performance, and align campaigns with your business goals. 3. Clear the Roadblocks Slowing Your Team Small inefficiencies become big headaches by year’s end. What processes are wasting time? Where’s the communication breaking down? Invite your team to flag friction points and co-create solutions. Even modest upgrades, such as automating reports, streamlining meetings and clarifying roles, can drive major gains. Harvard Business Review explores how better collaboration fuels better outcomes. 4. Recalibrate Your Goals and Reset Priorities It’s okay if the goals you set in January don’t fit anymore. Priorities evolve. What matters is focus. Reassess your KPIs and trim anything that’s distracting from your top objectives. Reset your team’s focus around fewer, clearer targets so execution becomes simpler and more powerful. 5. Reconnect with Your Why Amid the grind, your original mission can get blurry. Take a step back to reflect: Why did you start this business? Who do you serve, and how do you want to show up for them? Realigning with your purpose energizes your leadership and clarifies your brand. Fast Company outlines how reconnecting to your “why” boosts both engagement and performance. Bottom Line: A mid-year reset isn’t just a productivity hack, it’s a strategic imperative. It gives you space to pause, zoom out, and ask the critical questions that get lost in day-to-day urgency. By evaluating your numbers, refreshing your marketing, streamlining operations, focusing your goals, and reigniting your purpose, you give your business the fuel it needs to finish the year not just intact, but thriving. This isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what matters most with greater clarity, consistency, and conviction. --- The Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce is a private non-profit organization that aims to support the growth and development of local businesses and our regional economy. We strive to create content that not only educates but also fosters a sense of connection and collaboration among our readers. Join us as we explore topics such as economic development, networking opportunities, upcoming events, and success stories from our vibrant community. Our resources provide insights, advice, and news that are relevant to business owners, entrepreneurs, and community members alike. The Chamber has been granted license to publish this content provided by Chamber Today, a service of ChamberThink Strategies LLC.
June 9, 2025
Who isn’t feeling the pain of being stretched too thin these days? If you’ve dabbled with AI, you may have cut the time it takes you to do administrative tasks by as much as 26 minutes a day (at least according to a recent survey in the UK). However, it’s possible to do a lot more than that when you move past administrative tasks and see where else you can do more with less. One of these areas is content. Most businesses are sitting on goldmines of content and don’t even know it. This article will show you five genius ways to get more out of what you already have by repurposing and restructuring the media. 1. Turn Longform Content into Shortform Gold Feed your existing blog posts, eBooks, or newsletters into an AI tool to extract highlights, tips, or quotes for social media posts. Creative twist: Use AI to rewrite the same message in multiple tones—professional, humorous, casual—or tailor it for different platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook. 2. Transform Video or Podcast Transcripts into Written Content AI transcription tools can convert spoken content into text. Use a language model to turn that transcript into blog posts, newsletters, or Q&A articles. Creative twist: Convert a video transcript into a “Top 5 Takeaways” post, a tutorial, or a visually rich infographic with AI-generated headlines. 3. Create Content for Different Audiences from One Source Take a general piece of content (like a blog post) and ask AI to adapt it for different member personas such as new members, loyal/engaged members, or industry partners. Creative twist: Turn one blog post into: · A beginner’s guide on the topic · A technical breakdown · A “pitch” version for partners or press releases 4. Build an Email Series from a Single Piece Take a detailed guide or blog post and ask AI to break it into a 3–5-part email series, complete with subject lines, CTAs, and value-focused messaging. Email series can be very effective in helping your content get noticed. People may not take the time to read a 700-word blog post, but if you email the summary points across several days, they’ll get the gist of the message and will most likely remember it better than reading it all at once. Creative twist: Include AI-generated teaser lines or questions at the end of each email to boost open and click rates. 5. Reimagine Content as Interactive Tools or Experiences Use AI to turn tips, FAQs, or how-to guides into interactive quizzes, calculators, or chatbot scripts that educate and engage users. Example: Turn a skincare routine blog into a “What’s Your Skin Type?” quiz, or a business checklist into a “Startup Readiness Scorecard.” The titles you choose for the materials can make the content a lot more appealing. You can even use reimagined, designed pieces as lead magnets. People often won’t recognize it in another format. Speaking of, upload any written content onto NotebookLM and create a podcast on the topic. You can even tell it which parts of the text you want it to pay attention to or avoid. There are so many things you can do with existing content and marketing collateral you already have. If you can’t think of any creative ideas on how to repurpose those critical pieces, ask AI. Tell it your audience and your goal behind repurposing the content. Then ask it to suggest some ideas to you. You’ll be surprised what it comes up with. ------------- Christina Metcalf is a writer and women’s speaker who believes in the power of story. She works with small businesses, chambers of commerce, and business professionals who want to make an impression and grow a loyal customer/member base. She is the author of The Glinda Principle , rediscovering the magic within. _______________________________________ Facebook: @tellyourstorygetemtalking Instagram: @christinametcalfauthor LinkedIn: @christinagsmith
June 2, 2025
Pause to Stabilize: Cut costs and renegotiate to create breathing room. Pivot, Don’t Panic: Explore new markets or customer segments while staying agile. Learn Fast or Fall Behind: Turn setbacks into insights through rapid experimentation. Guard the Downside: Hedge risks and protect what matters most. 600 words ~ 3 min. read Even seasoned leaders know the sting of a strategy that’s no longer working. But the real measure of leadership isn’t avoiding failure—it’s how decisively and creatively you pivot when the path ahead shifts. When strategic plans falter—whether due to market turbulence, internal missteps, or external shocks—leaders must act not with panic, but with precision. Drawing from Harvard Business Review’s “How to Rescue a Failing Strategy,” here are four pivotal moves to help regain strategic traction. 1. Pause to Stabilize If your strategy is wobbling, the first priority is to buy time without triggering chaos. Consider: Reducing burn rate by cutting non-essential expenses Freezing expansion plans that strain resources Renegotiating contracts or vendor terms to ease cash flow Retailers, for instance, might pause new store openings to refocus on e-commerce logistics. Nonprofits may temporarily halt new program rollouts to concentrate on core impact areas. This strategic pause buys clarity—and the space to think critically. 2. Pivot, Don’t Panic Locking into one approach can be dangerous when conditions change. Instead, design options: Enter adjacent customer segments Test low-risk partnerships or distribution channels Pilot tweaks to product offerings or delivery models For manufacturers, this might mean adapting existing equipment to serve a neighboring industry. Professional services firms could pivot to virtual delivery or a subscription-based model. Related reading: McKinsey on adaptive strategies 3. Learn Fast or Fall Behind Use turbulence as a catalyst to turn your organization into a fast learner. That means: Running controlled experiments on pricing, offers, or ops Creating real-time feedback loops from customers and staff Making strategic reviews more iterative, less static Construction firms might beta-test prefab components for speed and cost. Tech startups could A/B test UX changes weekly. Also worth reading: Bain on learning organizations 4. Guard the Downside Pivots come with risk. Your job? Minimize exposure while staying bold. Cap investments in unproven ideas Increase controls around key financial or operational processes Develop contingency plans for likely risk scenarios Think of this as smart aggression—pushing forward without leaving your core vulnerable. Bottom Line Every organization will face moments when strategy falters. The difference lies in the response. Leaders who act with focus—stabilizing, experimenting, and protecting—don’t just recover; they reposition for smarter, stronger growth. --- The Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce is a private non-profit organization that aims to support the growth and development of local businesses and our regional economy. We strive to create content that not only educates but also fosters a sense of connection and collaboration among our readers. Join us as we explore topics such as economic development, networking opportunities, upcoming events, and success stories from our vibrant community. Our resources provide insights, advice, and news that are relevant to business owners, entrepreneurs, and community members alike. The Chamber has been granted license to publish this content provided by Chamber Today, a service of ChamberThink Strategies LLC.