The 2016 holiday season brought with it a local economic campaign aimed at encouraging Maricopa residents to shop local. [quote_box_right]Winners:
Glenda Kelley – $50 gift certificate from The UPS Store
Dawnielle Wade – $50 Visa gift card
Adam Florez – $50 Visa gift card
Mike Reiter – $50 Visa gift card
Dan Frank – Holiday gift basket from Adobe Blinds and More
Sarah Zabawa – Breeze Casual gift basket from Greg Campbell
Chris Clampitt – Travel goodies and $50 Visa gift card from Suz’s Cruises
Jim Shoaf – TV, movies & popcorn popper from Maricopa Jewelry & Pawn
Jon Lester – One month Kids Karate class from ATA Martial Arts
Angela Workman – $25 gift certificate and pet goodies from Home is Where the Hound Is
Baby-Lin Scofield – $50 Visa Gift card and gift bag from #Vidit
Susan Randolph – Maricopa Arts Council CD, guitar gift certificate and $25 sweet treats from Maricopa Arts Council
Gwen Marsh – Gift basket with bolster pillow and six seasonal pillow covers, candles and reed diffuser from Uniquely Sewn

Grand prize winners
Carylon Jones – $250 Visa gift card
Christina Manfredi – Yeti Roadie Cooler from Ace Hardware
Glenda Kelley – Breakfast with Mayor Price[/quote_box_right]

Spearheaded by the city’s Economic Development team and designed to bolster local business sales, the Copa Bingo initiative started Oct. 6, ran until Dec. 29 and involved more than 100 businesses spanning 24 industries.

So far, direct feedback from local businesses has proven lackluster with many seeing a marginal increase in traffic, if any at all.

Cathy Dykstra of Honeycutt Coffee said in the first two months she noticed a small number of customers coming in with Copa Bingo cards, but hardly anyone presented them in December. She said most participants were regulars who presented multiple cards and asked for multiple stamps on multiple categories.

Just around the corner at The Green Zone Nutrition, owner Jeanette Jones said she experienced similar results giving out “maybe five stamps in three months.”

Other business owners, who wished to remain anonymous, were happy to see such an initiative but felt the program was too complex. They said  the social media aspect required extra effort from customers who may already be in a hurry during the holiday season.

Director of Economic Development Denyse Airheart acknowledges improvements can always been be made, which she believes is one of the benefits of a recurring program.

She said the city in the past has launched different shop-local initiatives each year, which, though exciting, can be time-consuming to design and ultimately less flexible in implementation.

“We really wanted to create a program that we could do over and over and over so we could tweak it to increase interest and engagement over time,” Airheart said. “So, we’ll see Copa Bingo return next year during the same time.”

The city is seeking feedback on Copa Bingo in the form of a survey sent to Maricopa consumers and businesses, something Airheart feels will offer the city a chance to understand and account for any shortcomings: “We want a full debrief … we’re looking for [Maricopans’] thoughts.”

Prizes for this year’s program included gift certificates and gift bags from Maricopa businesses. A $250 gift card was given as the grand prize to participant with the most entries and a special Blackout prize drawing for a breakfast with Mayor Christian Price. Carylon Jones won a $250 Visa gift card. Christina Manfredi won a Yeti Roadie cooler from Ace Hardware. Glenda Kelley won the breakfast with the mayor.

Maricopa-AZ.gov/web/EconomicDevelopment, @MaricopaMatters

This story appears in the February issue of InMaricopa.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR