Trib Total Media announces $1 million Shop Local Marketing Grant program - TribLIVE

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It’s the season of giving, and Trib Total Media wants to show its gratitude to locally owned businesses.

The Trib announced Monday it will give new matching grants to local small businesses recovering from the covid-19 pandemic and ensuing economic downturn.

With the Shop Local Marketing Grant 2021, Trib Total Media will match up to $1 million in advertising to bolster locally owned businesses in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“As our business community continues to see the effects of the pandemic, we strongly believe we have an obligation to extend a helping hand,” said Trib Total Media President and CEO Jennifer Bertetto. “We will continue to help each other move forward until this crisis comes to an end.”

Companies with two or fewer locations are eligible to apply for a matching advertising grant. The grant program will be in effect from Jan. 1 through March 31. Grants will range from $250 per month to $10,000 per month. The application website MarketingGrant.TribLIVE.com is open for local businesses to apply.

This is a new grant — not an extension of the 2020 grant. Any business that would like to be considered must apply.

When Trib Total Media launched its 2020 grant program, the company initially planned to offer up to $250,000 in grants. The program was extended to $1 million to meet overwhelming initial demand. Within 10 business days, the company surpassed $1 million in total grant requests from nearly 200 local businesses.

Sib’s Sweet Shoppe in New Stanton was among the businesses that benefited from the 2020 grant program. Owner Dayna DiPasquale said the grant helped with advertising in the fall, at a time when a little financial help went a long way for a small business surviving a pandemic.

“It did help just getting our store out there — what we have and that we’re still open for business,” DiPasquale said. “Any little bit extra helps businesses at this time.”

Benson Lincoln used the program to keep a consistent ad campaign at a point when they had been considering chopping their budget, said Tom LaFrankie, the company’s president.

“We did email blasts that let clients know that we were CDC compliant. We reinforced the fact that we can do outside deliveries. We gave specific pricepoints on our vehicles. We did it through print, through inserts in the paper, through postcards, through email blasts. With the matching money, we did all electronic stuff,” LaFrankie said, adding that the variety of advertising methods helped spread their message.

“We would’ve chopped advertising in half,” he said. “We would’ve cut our budget. Instead, we actually increased our budget. We’re getting a lot more value.”

At StairBusters in Saxonburg, controller Amanda Kunkle said advertising was temporarily halted — until she realized this grant could help the company spread their message even better than before.

“Being able to put our name out there more than normal helped other people in our community to see that we’re still open, we’re still running, and we’re doing it in the safest ways possible,” Kunkle said.

Kunkle said StairBusters is considering applying for the 2021 grant because of how easy and effective the first program was.

“Not only was it easy, it was kind of like a sigh of relief — like we’re going to continue to do what we do, but you’re going to help us by letting us double it and really get our name out there,” she said.

Grants are available for existing and new customers and will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. Winning applicants will be notified within three business days.

The advertising match has a minimum monthly spend, and the match must occur in the same month as the cash spend.

For more information or to apply for the Shop Local Marketing Grant, visit the website.

Julia Felton is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Julia at 724-226-7724, jfelton@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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Trib Total Media announces $1 million Shop Local Marketing Grant program - TribLIVE

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