The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce has launched a new online marketplace where consumers can shop for products and services from small, locally owned businesses across Chautauqua County.

ShopLocalCHQ.com features a wide variety of local businesses and their products and services, with more being added every day.

“This platform makes it easy for local consumers to shop local for products and services,” said Todd Tranum president/CEO of the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce. “This is our communities’ local response to other on-line platforms that are taking sales opportunities away from our local economy. We have to empower our local businesses and our consumers to fight back against the large on-line corporations and that is just what we are doing with SHOPLOCALCHQ. This new platform makes it easy and affordable for small businesses to sell online and allows consumers to aggregate their purchases across the marketplace for a convenient shopping experience.”

Americans are expected to spend more on eCommerce this holiday season than ever before. Barron’s predicts an 80% increase in eCommerce sales over 2019. That makes it more important than ever for small businesses to be able to sell online and to reach existing customers, while also expanding their customer reach.

“A core focus of the Chamber has always been to drive traffic to local businesses,” Tranum added. “Now we have another tool to drive sales to our Chamber members online. It is especially important this holiday season as we encourage consumers to Shop Safe. Shop Small. Shop Local. Consumers can shop and support small local businesses either in person or online. It’s the best of both worlds for both our small businesses and the consumer.”

New businesses and products are being added to the ShopLocalCHQ marketplace daily. Any chamber member business is welcome to participate. Businesses that would like to be added may contact Jonathan Weston, director of member marketing, at jweston@chautauquachamber.org, visit the Chamber website at www.chautauquachamber.org/shoplocalchq or visit www.ShopLocalCHQ.com and click “Start Selling” to get registered.

“This is a tremendous way for the chamber to support our local businesses at a time when they need help the most,” said Fred Johnson of Johnson Estate Winery and chamber board chair. “It’s no secret that 2020 has been a challenging year for our economy, and small locally owned businesses have been hit the hardest. We are grateful to the businesses and several organizational partners that worked with us to review and analyze our options. Several organizations that work with the business community helped inform our decision to proceed with this platform, and they include the Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau, Small Business Development Center, the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation and the Gebbie Foundation. We are also pleased to have the support of numerous local elected officials who joined us online for a live demonstration of the platform during our virtual news conference.”

To help launch this new program, the Chamber of Commerce is giving away $500 in Chamber gift cards that can be used either on the online marketplace or in more than 150 physical businesses right here in Chautauqua County. Visit the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce Facebook page to enter the contest. No purchase is required.