Greater Spokane Inc .: Give local businesses a chance

July 22, 2021

Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) and Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce (GSVCC) were two of 11 chambers that have partnered with the Association of Washington Business (AWB) and the WA Department of Commerce in a Chamber Vaccine Incentive Program run by State Emergency Disaster Relief Fund is funded. This program, titled “Give Local Business A Shot In The Arm,” was designed as a nationwide initiative to incentivize high-risk groups to get COVID-19 vaccinations. The aim was to increase the immunized population to a level that would reduce the risk for a larger population group. Another goal was to help many of the troubled businesses in our communities by giving people who had vaccinated a $ 50 voucher, with the ultimate goal of spending the money locally.

The program ran for nearly four weeks in Spokane County, June 16 through July 11. Of the $ 4,000 $ 50 gift cards made available to GSI and GSVCC, over 3,000 have been given out in our community, totaling over $ 150,000. Nine different organizations worked with GSI and GSVCC to distribute the gift certificates, and there were 41 unique pop-up and day clinics that issued gift certificates to vaccinees. During the last two weeks of the program, we were excited to increase the incentive to two gift cards ($ 100) for each person vaccinated.

Greetings to the great partners in our community who have worked diligently with us every day; CHAS, Consistent Care, MultiCare, Providence, Gonzaga University, Range Health, Spectrum, Spokane Regional Health District, Unify, and The Native Project. Thank you all!