Even though the town didn't win the public vote to be featured on Season 3 of Small Business Revolution, making it to the top five brought many benefits to Siloam Springs, according to Kelsey Howard, director of Main Street Siloam Springs.
After being chosen from more than 14,000 applicants to be in the top 20 in November, then advancing to the top 10 in December and finally the top five in January, the town learned on Tuesday that it lost its bid to be featured on the show next fall. The final winner -- Alton, Ill., -- was determined by a public vote that took place during the week of Feb. 13-19.
The competition helped raise awareness about Siloam Springs as people reached out to friends and family members on social media to encourage them to vote for the town. Through John Brown University connections, Howard heard the effort to promote Siloam Springs had spread to other continents. Even Gov. Asa Hutchinson got on board, posting a Facebook video asking people across the state to support Siloam Springs.
"I think it's pretty safe to say there was international support for Siloam Springs," she said.
The SBR competition created a lot of momentum in the community and in Megan Denison's high school film and television classroom.
"I still think that momentum exists," Denison said. "We were in the top five. There is something really special about us and we're not the only ones who see it."
Denison said her students met host Amanda Brinkman while they were filming the welcome reception at Brick Ballroom on Jan. 16. Brinkman took a special interest in one of Denison's female students and talked to her one-on-one about her career goals.
Denison said it was evident to her that the show is committed to doing good in the community. She was impressed that Brinkman, who is the head of a large company, would take time to talk to a small group of high school kids about how to make a TV show.
"That's not something someone that's a busy person does unless they are really, truly invested in small towns and small businesses," Denison said.
Howard said she has already received several calls from chambers of commerce in other states asking for a representative from Siloam Springs to present to their group because of the publicity generated by SBR. The competition created an opportunity for Siloam Springs to spread the message of how important preservation and growth is to small towns.
"I think that if anything, the positive thing that will come out of this is it perked some people's ears about Siloam Springs who wouldn't have had any connection to us otherwise," she said.
Spencer Puryear, owner of The Foundry Clothing Company, is one of the businesses that SBA interviewed in January.
Puryear agreed that the competition helped raise awareness about what Siloam Springs has to offer. He gave an example of a customer from Springdale who recently visited his store and expressed surprise that Siloam Springs was so close to her home. He is hopeful that the competition helped spread the message that Siloam Springs is growing and a nice place to visit to people like her.
Deluxe will be hosting free small business seminars at each of the top 10 towns to help them continue the momentum created by the competition. The seminar will help small businesses learn how to get found online, enhance their sales and marketing tools, leverage customer experience to improve their website, build a budget and plan finances. Siloam Springs' seminar will be held on Wednesday, April 25, at Simmons Great Hall.
Howard said those who are interested should sign up using the links posted on Main Street's social media pages as soon as possible because seating is limited.
The Main Street and the Chamber of Commerce are collaborating to find other ways to help small businesses through resources such as the Small Business Administration and Startup Junkie, Howard said.
Startup Junkie is affiliated with the SBA and provides no-cost consulting services to entrepreneurs. The organization will hold a free seminar about business finances at 28 Springs on March 12 followed by an IdeaFame Live contest on March 13. Contestants will have 60 seconds to pitch their ideas for a chance to win $2,000 in prizes. To register, visit www.siloamchamber.com.
General News on 03/04/2018