Mayor Ed Honea and Council Member Patti Comerford join members of the Chamber at a Shop 'n Marana Block Party.
With evidence of the holiday season all around, there are plenty of ways to support your local community. The Marana Chamber of Commerce sponsors a year-round program that allows Marana shoppers to do just that, and local merchants are grateful for their support. Through Shop ’n Marana, anyone can help make sure that this Town continues to grow in new and exciting ways.
In 2013, the Marana Chamber conducted a business walk throughout the community. Their goal was to ask local businesses how the Town and the Chamber could best support their entrepreneurial efforts. Based on the feedback the Chamber received, many merchants wanted to see a shop local program created. Within the year, that recommendation became reality.
“This program has been an exciting way to start a dialogue with local businesses,” says Alex Chavez the Chamber’s special projects coordinator. With so much pressure to shift to digital marketing, many merchants find it difficult to keep up with online trends, but this program provides a vehicle for that progress. Through the host app Save Local Now, businesses can distribute discounts and promotions to a wide audience in and around Marana. Since Shop ’n Marana first launched in 2014, over 13,000 users in the region have downloaded the app.
One of the first businesses to sign up for Shop ’n Marana was Mathnasium. This learning center helps provide students a welcoming environment where they can improve their math skills with individualized instruction from experienced teachers. This year, Mathnasium just completed a successful pilot partnership with Marana Unified School District, helping to prepare 6th graders for middle school math.
Devi Paolillo runs Mathnasium, and knows a thing or two about mathematics, from basic arithmetic to differential equations. Where she struggles, though, is in marketing her company. “Alex and the Chamber helped me fill my digital marketing gap. Before I signed up for Shop ’n Marana, my Facebook page had Mathnasium listed as an airport! Alex not only helped us join the shop local movement, but she also helped me improve all my digital marketing.”
The Marana Chamber of Commerce currently has 260 members based in the Town, and the Shop ’n Marana program is open to all of them at no cost beyond their annual dues. If your company is interested in joining this list of local merchants, contact Rebecca Kososkie at (520) 331-2367. If you want to know what local businesses are part of this program, download the Save Local Now app on your smart device, and search for businesses in Marana.
