In a gesture of support and recognition for small businesses during Small Business Week Oct. 18-22, the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce is treating locals to free coffee at Cochrane cafes.
Coffee will be up for grabs courtesy of the Chamber for the first 20 people who stop in at a cafe's assigned day of the week, starting at 9 a.m. each day.
The initiative is part of the Chamber's Cochrane Loves Local online campaign, which encourages people to share stories, photos, videos and written testimonials that highlight small businesses.
First up was Mezzo Caffe on Tuesday where Chamber executive director Kelly Carson was handing out warm mugs to those who came in.
"This is all about supporting small businesses in Cochrane, which are so vital to our economy and which have probably suffered the most during the pandemic," Carson said. "This is the Chamber's way of being involved in the business community and giving something back."
Carson said he hopes the initiative will drive more attention to surrounding small businesses, like the new dental office and vet clinic by Mezzo's in Fireside.
"We're super excited cause we're hoping it will get a couple more people in the door because not a lot of people know we're here," said Mezzo Caffe general manager Trish Phillips.
Mezzo has been in their location for two years and Phillips said business has been rough.
"Every time the government introduces a new restriction, it gets slower," she said. "We just really appreciate the support and the thoughtfulness. We're just a small place and not a lot of people drive up to Fireside if they're not in Fireside. It's nice when people are willing to come up here and check us out and hopefully have a good experience."
The idea to give away free coffee came up at a recent board meeting between Chamber members last week while discussing how they could do something for local businesses throughout the week.
"In the past, we've done pancake breakfasts and such, but we're just not able to do that stuff without a whole bunch of regulations," Carson said. "We're going to do a different coffee shop every day, Tuesday to Saturday. We did not do Monday because of the municipal election."
After Mezzo's on Tuesday, next up is Cochrane Coffee Traders on Wednesday, Good Earth Coffeehouse on Thursday, Guy's Bakery & Cafe on Friday and Patsy's Place on Saturday.
With only so many days in the week, Carson said they chose to first highlight members of the Chamber and then looked at adding more to the list. He said he encourages anyone other local coffee spots to reach out to the Chamber if they would like the support, and they will look at opening up times in the afternoon to do more coffee giveaways.
The Cochrane Loves Local campaign is partnering with the Town of Cochrane business development department to help create the Town's annual gift guide which promotes shopping at local businesses during the holiday season.
"We're adding another version on top of that and that will be a gift box," Carson said. "That's about all I can say about it for now."
