“For Fort Collins” Website and Initiative Aimed at Supporting Local Businesses

Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce

A collaboration of community partners in Fort Collins has launched a campaign aimed at encouraging support for local businesses, especially those in the industries most affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The campaign, dubbed “For Fort Collins,” and its website, www.forfortcollins.com, will be a source of information regarding the latest physical distancing requirements and best practices for local businesses. Business owners will also be able to access a marketing toolkit complete with a custom graphics generator to help them to reopen strong and reopen safe.

“For Fort Collins is the hub to help our businesses and community reopen,” said Cynthia Eichler, president and CEO of Visit Fort Collins. “At ForFortCollins.com, you’ll find information, education, and opportunities to rally for businesses of all types as they navigate through modifications and evolving changes of physical distancing.”

Partner organizations for the initiative include the City of Fort Collins, Visit Fort Collins, the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, Midtown Business Improvement District, and the Downtown Business Association.

“Spending our dollars locally will be more important than ever before, both now and well into the future,” said Ann Hutchison, executive vice president of the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce. “For Fort Collins will help to keep this top of mind for locals and visitors alike.”

For community members, the website will share tools to help people champion their favorite local businesses. The campaign also includes ways for community members to support local businesses aside from just financial, including graphics that give kudos or shout outs to businesses that can be shared on social media using the hashtags #ForFortCollins and #ForFoCo.

“This is a great opportunity for our community to resurrect a local business campaign, but it is so much more than that,” said SeonAh Kendall, the City of Fort Collins’ senior economic manager. “It’s not a spend campaign. We recognize that so many people in our community want to support but might not have the financial means to do so. This is a community-wide rally that provides a platform to share what makes Fort Collins so special.” A companion website, For FoCo, now live at ourcity.fcgov.com/ForFoCo, will also serve as a resource for residents to share stories, photos and video about how they’re staying connected to neighbors and the larger community. The site will also feature brief interviews with City staff and engagement opportunities.

“Meaningful collaboration makes Fort Collins stand out above other cities as a desirable place to live and a great place to do business,” said James Yearling, president of the Downtown Business Association. “This campaign exemplifies that spirit and gives both the community and businesses the opportunity to rely on each other and learn how we can best inject vitality and vibrancy back into our day-to-day lives.”

“The Midtown Business Improvement District is happy to participate in the For Fort Collins campaign,” said Luke McFetridge, the district’s president. “Midtown is an important contributor to the retail canvas of Fort Collins and consists of many of the community’s longest-standing retailers. Local businesses are a mainstay of the economy and the Midtown BID is happy to help in the recovery effort.”

The new website and tools will be available to help local businesses long after the local economy has recovered and will continue to evolve to keep local support top-of-mind. For more information, visit www.ForFortCollins.com. Spanish language translation is available.