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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Good evening Main Street.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Oklahoma Main Street Center (OMSC), Independent Shopkeepers Association (ISA), the Greater OKC Chamber of Commerce and Downtown OKC Partnership are partnering to bring
people back into your shops and celebrate Oklahoma’s local business owners and their contributions to their communities and the State.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">As summer approaches and more people are vaccinated, we are planning for a big Weekend of Local set for <b>July 23-25</b>. The Weekend of Local is a campaign to encourage customers
to come back to your shops and restaurants and support local businesses who need it the most. Think of it as a Small Business Saturday, except it takes place over three days and only in Oklahoma. It's part "let's celebrate our businesses surviving this horrendous
year" and part "let's makeup for all those lost sales" with a sprinkle of "July is awful for foot traffic, let's give it a boost." We are excited to see this campaign take shape all over the state.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">While we haven't made the campaign public yet, we are starting by opening up a signup form for shops who want to participate. By signing up, they will be listed on the directory
shared with all customers and will receive a guide to help plan festivities. Whether they just want to promote the campaign on social media and be listed in the directory, or want to go all out with a big in-store event, we'll share everything they need in
that guide - from marketing material to social media template, sample press release and ideas of ways to activate their shop and draw customers in. Although we'll touch more on this in the guide, we wanted to note early on that we are not encouraging or expecting
them to give discounts. We want them to make the most out of this weekend sales-wise. The goal is for customers to come out and support your businesses, not the other way around. Signing up to participate in the Weekend of Local is of course free. <a href="http://isaok.org/localweekend" target="_blank">You
just need to fill out the quick form here and will be added to the list of participating businesses.</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">This has been a draining year on so many levels so let’s make this campaign as easy as possible for you with everything we'll share ahead of time. We hope that the Weekend
of Local will not only boost your sales and foot traffic, but give everyone something positive and fun to look forward to. Our local businesses deserve to be celebrated and the Weekend of Local will do just that.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="http://isaok.org/localweekend" target="_blank">Here is the website again for local businesses to participate</a>. Please
share with your businesses and neighbors - there is no requirement to be a member of any group to sign up. The more, the merrier!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Let us know if you have any questions!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Buffy Hughes | State Main Street Director</span></b><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">Oklahoma Main Street Center | Oklahoma Department of Commerce<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><a href="mailto:Buffy.Hughes@okcommerce.gov">Buffy.Hughes@okcommerce.gov</a></span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in">p. 405-815-5249 | c. 405-664-1260</span><span style="color:black;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#004D9A;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><a href="https://okcommerce.gov/" title="https://okcommerce.gov"><span style="color:#004D9A">okcommerce.gov</span></a></span><span style="color:#004D9A;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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