Ribbon Cutting, Open House, or Groundbreaking Request FormOverview
These events are a Chamber Member benefit. Their goal is fundamentally marketing; you are trying to bring awareness of your business to community members, potential customers, and business associates.
Ribbon Cuttings are usually planned for a business expansion, relocation, grand opening, major anniversary, renovation, or to welcome a new member to the Chamber.
An Open House can be a great option for all the above, but is more lowkey, and is best suited to retail or service businesses. You can also use it to give potential customers or clients a sneak-peak of what's to come before your official opening date. It is best to have something specific you're celebrating, and offer some perks that guests wouldn't normally get the chance to experience (i.e. after-hours shopping and sale, food & entertainment (see below), raffle or games, etc.)
Ground Breaking Ceremonies are for celebrating the beginning of a new construction, whether that's a brand new building for your business, or a substantial addition.
Setting the Date
For planning and marketing purposes, these events should be scheduled at least one month in advance. When completing the form below, please provide the preferred date. Once your request form is received, we will coordinate with our calendar to accommodate your preferred date. If we cannot accommodate, we will work with you to plan for the next closest date.
Time
A typical Ribbon Cutting or Ground Breaking ceremony is approximately one hour, and can be scheduled any day of the week other than Sundays. Our recommended times for Ribbon Cuttings or Ground Breaking ceremonies are Wednesday - Saturday, and between the hours of 11.00 am - 1.00 pm, or after 4.00pm if you have a fuller event planned.
Open House events are the most flexible, and are best when planned on a weekend if you are a retail business. Open House events can be as long or as short as you would like.
These days and times are suggestions, and are in no way rules. The more you try to tailor your event to your target audience, the better your event will be.
Advertising
The Chamber provides graphics and promotion for your event. Ads will be distributed through email campaigns, social posts, and will be listed on the Chamber website and Facebook calendars. If you desire, feel free to notify local media outlets to heighten publicity. After the event, we will post pictures and videos on social media.
Supplies
For ribbon cuttings, the Chamber provides ribbon and scissors for the ceremony.
This part of the event can be a fun opportunity to customize your event. Some businesses have been known to deviate from the classic red ribbon and gold scissors. If you're interested in making this part of your event a little more entertaining, click here for some ideas: The Beginner's Guide to the Chamber Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
For Ground Breaking events, the business must supply their own digging implements, hard hats, etc.
The Ceremony (Ribbon Cutting or Ground Breaking)
The following list includes the typical components of either ceremony. You may wish to remove, rearrange, or add to this list.
Food & Entertainment
As we've already stated, this is your event: you can make it as grand or as simple as you like. Food is not strictly necessary for any one of these events, but it can defiantly add to the feeling of celebration, and can facilitate easier visiting and networking for your guests. It can be as simple as coffee and donuts in the morning, cake and soft drinks in the afternoon, or elaborate catering for a fun evening.
Same with entertainment. If you're looking to draw a large crowd, finding entertainment that compliments your event helps, and can potentially bring even more publicity for your business in the aftermath.
All in all, the structures of these events are very flexible. If you feel after reading this that you still need some assistance in trying to figure out which event may be best for your occasion, or how to best plan for your target audience, please feel free to call or visit us.