Kathleen McNary
Director of Corporate & Member Relations
Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce
We are very excited to announce the Chamber’s launch of the joint program GIFT CARLSBAD – in partnership with the Ready Carlsbad Business Alliance (RCBA), the Carlsbad Village Association, Visit Carlsbad and the City of Carlsbad. With the overall goal to support businesses deeply affected by COVID-19 as quickly as possible, we are all working together to ensure our city’s businesses are critically supported by the local community. Thanks to the work in preparedness, readiness, response and recovery that the Ready Carlsbad Business Alliance has been doing for years, we are able to set up a platform to make this program succeed.
“The Ready Carlsbad Business Alliance – a relationship between the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, local businesses and the City of Carlsbad was formed in 2011,” says Co-Chair of the RCBA and Assistant Director of Emergency Services for the City of Carlsbad, David Harrison. He adds that the RCBA’s role is “to promote local business emergency preparedness, employee preparedness and to provide local businesses an opportunity to contribute to community recovery after disaster strikes.” It is after disasters that RCBA has stepped up for our community and shown its invaluable contributions. “When disasters occur, RCBA coordinates community recovery resources. For instance, in response to the 2014 Poinsettia Fire, RCBA distributed over $25,000 to 71 impacted Carlsbad families.” So when the idea of a gift card program for business recovery was brought up to RCBA’s leadership, it was no surprise they were ready to help. “During Covid-19, RCBA is making local business-donated funds available to the Gift Carlsbad – Shop Local Stimulus Program. RCBA’s contribution to the program, which will be combined with other matching donations, will produce gift-cards designed to generate much needed revenue for Carlsbad businesses,” said Harrison.
As a community, we learned from the 2014 Poinsettia fire how to help our business community recover from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, even though these are two very different events. “What is common to both,” says Harrison, “is that now, like back then, Carlsbad residents and businesses need assistance to recover. The lessons from the Poinsettia Fire are that Ready Carlsbad can be one source of that assistance, that Ready Carlsbad can help with both resident and business recovery, and that it can do so in a relatively timely manner. Within a few weeks after the Poinsettia Fire, 71 Carlsbad families had received recovery assistance, and fire-damaged businesses received support to restart their operations. During COVID-19, under joint Carlsbad Chamber and City of Carlsbad leadership, with Ready Carlsbad contributing partial financial support, Carlsbad business recovery will now benefit through this innovative, joint giftcard revenue-generating effort.”
We ask everyone who may be able to spend $25 on a gift card to get one today! If you order a $25 card, you receive $5 bonus. If you order $40, you get a $10 bonus. There is currently a limit on how many are available, so visit GiftCarlsbad.com and purchase today! We also ask everyone to share the program on their social media or email, or just be vocal to support our community as much and as quickly as possible.