GUNNEDAH and District Chamber of Commerce's (GDCC) 'Shop Local and Win' campaign has been labelled as a huge success, with more than $4.4 million being spent on local businesses as part of the program.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
There were more than 30,000 entries submitted, and the average spend was $135 despite the minimum cost of entry to the lucky draw competition only being $20.
Incredibly, the plan only came about when the annual Christmas Fair in Conadilly Street was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Chamber president Juliana McArthur said the program delivered a huge boost to the 80 participating businesses.
"Thank you to all the businesses who provided prizes for the weekly draws and congratulations to local Megan Elbourne who drove away in our yellow MG3 with an entry from Gunnedah Newsagency," she said.
"Thank you to Gunnedah Shire Council who provided major sponsorship with funding from the Community Resilience COVID-19 Business Recovery Package 'Invigorate Gunnedah' which supported our extensive television, radio and print advertising around the promotion."
Read also:
Social media played a huge part in the campaign, with local businesses interacting heavily with GDCC on Facebook which helped raise awareness of the scheme and lead to some videos receiving over 20,00 views
Such online traction helped it attract entries from interstate and around NSW, which came as a pleasant surprise to Ms McArthur.
"About 20 per cent of entries came from outside Gunnedah, with Queensland and Victorian visitors trying their luck and a further 60 NSW postcodes definitely in the draw," she stated.
"Regionally, there were a good proportion of entries from Tamworth, Boggabri, Baan Baa, Narrabri, Coonabarabran, Quirindi and Manilla as well as across Gunnedah Shire."
GDCC received some much-deserved recognition for their efforts at the Australia Day awards, with Gunnedah Shire Council naming them as joint winner in the Community Organisation category.
"More information about the 2021 Christmas Fair will be released later in the year."
Gunnedah Automotive, Namoi Valley Bricks, 2MO/GGG and Whitehaven Coal were also thanked for their contributions to the campaign.