Building up businesses and the community

PULLMAN — It isn’t unusual for chamber of commerce officials to advocate for their communities, but Marie Dymkoski gets a little emotional when she talks about hers.

Dymkoski, who has lived on the Palouse for more than 30 years, has been executive director of the Pullman Chamber and Visitor Center since 2010. She’s always found it to be a caring community, and that’s especially true this year.

“All you have to do is communicate an issue, and people come forward to help,” she said. “People really care about each other, and about the well-being of local businesses. Whenever you send up a red flag, they come running to help.”

There’s never been a need quite like this year, though, when stay-at-home orders, canceled sporting events, a shift to online classes at Washington State University and other pandemic-related shutdowns and restrictions combined to hammer businesses and consumers alike.

“I’ve talked to many business owners who say how horrible (a year) it’s been,” Dymkoski said. “If you have a favorite restaurant or shop, you need to start supporting it yesterday, because it may not be here next spring.”

Getting the word out about the importance of shopping locally is one thing, but two recent community initiatives are taking that a step further.

The P llman Needs U campaign launched a “12 Days of Pay-It-Forward” program this month. It offers an incentive for consumers to buy local, while simultaneously reimbursing businesses for the cost of any discounts or deals they offer.

Similarly, the Pullman Serves It Forward campaign uses donations to buy gift cards at participating restaurants and then distributes the cards to people through the local food bank.

“It’s a double win. It helps (the restaurant industry) and provides a meal for someone who needs it,” said Tom Handy, owner of Paradise Creek Brewery.

Run by the Whitman County Community Action Center, the campaign has raised nearly $55,000. The money is used to buy $25 gift cards at about a dozen local restaurants. The cards are then distributed through the Community Action Center’s food pantry.

“For us, it’s been a good program,” Handy said. “Is it enough to save someone’s business? That’s hard to tell — everyone I talk to is in dire straits. But anything that helps is part of the solution.”

The idea for Pullman Serves It Forward came from Jamie Callison, the executive chef at Washington State University’s School of Hospitality Business Management and director of the school’s Marriott Hospitality Culinary Innovation Center.

Callison, who has worked in the food industry for nearly 40 years, said the average person probably doesn’t realize just how badly the coronavirus-related shutdowns and restrictions have affected the restaurant industry.

“It’s been devastating,” he said. “A lot of businesses have had to lay off 90 to 100 percent of their staff. There are communities where every person in the hospitality industry has lost their job.”

Faced with such dismal conditions, Callison said he was inspired by WSU football coach Nick Rolovich, who earlier this year encouraged his Twitter followers to visit particular restaurants by buying 20 meals for the first 20 people who came through the door.

That was a great thing, Callison said, but he wanted to ensure that the meals went to those who are most in need. Hence, the idea of buying gift cards to distribute through the food bank.

“There’s no stipulations on what someone can order,” he said. “It’s a gift card. They can go out (or order take-out) and celebrate with the community and feel a little more connected. Good food does that. It bring people together. It provides a little reprieve in the day.”

That’s important to Callison, who grew up poor and used to get embarrassed when his mom pulled out food stamps at the grocery store.

“It was humbling,” he said. “Gift cards offer some dignity.”

Dymkoski said the chamber gets calls from WSU alumni all the time, asking how they can help the community during these difficult times. She regularly refers them to the Pullman Serves It Forward website at www.cacwhitman.org/serveitforward.

“It kills two birds with one stone,” she said.

The “12 Days of Pay-It-Forward” campaign, which runs through Wednesday, takes a similar approach. Different businesses offer deals or discounts each day. The Pullman Chamber reimburses them for their costs, and customers can then enter their purchase receipts into a drawing for five $100 gift cards from Zeppoz bowling alley.

The chamber initially financed the Pay-It-Forward campaign with about $14,000 from its community investment fund. Once he heard about the initiative, Edmund O. Schweitzer at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories kicked in another $10,000.

“The idea is to take the money and put it back into businesses that have been most negatively impacted by COVID,” Dymkoski said. “It’s been going really well. People like getting a deal, but it’s mainly about awareness.”

The Pay-It-Forward campaign was the first “event” under the chamber’s P llman Needs U initiative, which was originally created during the 2008 recession.

“It was basically an educational campaign to encourage WSU students and residents to support local businesses,” Dymkoski said. “This seemed like the right time to resurrect it.”

Paradise Creek Brewery kicked off the Pay-It-Forward campaign on Dec. 12. It offered customers gift cards equal in value to whatever they spent that evening, up to a certain limit. The deal basically doubled the restaurant’s revenue that night, while giving diners a “buy one, get one” incentive.

“It went like gangbusters,” Handy said. “It brought in about as much revenue as we would have made (pre-pandemic).”

Just having what used to be a normal Saturday was rejuvenating, he said.

“There have been a lot of days this year where we’re 75 percent below last year,” he said. “This was a nice little shining star. It’s another one of those things where every little bit helps.”

B&L Bicycles owner Brice Erickson is also participating in the Pay-It-Forward campaign, but is doing so in a way that benefits local restaurants rather than his own business. He’s giving a $40 gift certificate to participating eateries to anyone who buys an in-stock bicycle during the 12-day period.

“We know the restaurant industry is hurting more than most, so we decided this would be a good way to encourage people to go to a local restaurant,” Erickson said.

The deal may not attract more customers for B&L, he said, but it’s giving people a reason to order take-out from a local restaurant, which they might not have done otherwise.

“Anything we can do right now to drive traffic is a good thing,” he said.

Details about which business is being featured each day during the Pay-It-Forward campaign can be found on the chamber’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PullmanChamber, and at www.facebook.com/ShopLocalPullman.

William L. Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208)-791-9168.