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Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Finding local businesses just got easier Originally published in The Chronicle Vol. 141 October 25, 2023 WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
For those who are interested in finding and learning more about local businesses and events, the Find it Local Columbia County App has you covered. The Find it Columbia County App is a new tool that aims to be a directory for local businesses, organizations, non-profits, attractions, and events. The app was developed by Keep it Local Columbia County. Keep it Local Columbia County is a program of the Columbia Economic Team and is a small business marketing non-profit. Keep it Local Director Sierra Trass gave an interview with The Chronicle about the app and what it can offer to Columbia County residents and visitors. Why the app? The app was developed with leftover funds from a Business Oregon grant that had been secured so an online business directory could be created. “It’s kind of been a progression,” Trass said. I’ve been working for about a year and a half on making the online directory. So when that launched in May, it was like, ‘Okay, yay!’ And then the grant from Business Oregon
that made it possible actually had some extra funding, so they gave us some money to go develop an app.” Trass has been working on pulling together the app since April, and it officially launched Oct. 6. The app and the online business directory are linked, and any business, event, or organization listing added to the online directory “automatically pools into the app.” “It makes it easier, so you don’t have to tell people to put something in two spots,” Trass said. “Once people add themselves to the online directory at keepitlocalcc. com, it only takes a few hours after their listing is approved to go right in to the app. And then it updates as people want to update their listings online, and they’ll update into the app too.” According to Trass, the app is a useful tool because not only can people search for a business by name but also see listed businesses in a “map view,” which allows people to search by city or location. “It also has the ability to search by category of businesses. So if you wanted to go into the ‘shop category’ and see local boutiques you could do that,” she said. “Or if you wanted to go to the ‘taste category’ and see the farmers, or the restaurants, or the food trucks, you can search by those categories and you can also search by city.” Examples Trass gave
would be looking for food trucks in St. Helens, or art businesses in Clatskanie. She described the customization as “savvy and fun.” One feature Trass said she likes is the ability to add multiple destinations that users would like to visit in a single day, and it will route a course for the user to hit each of the stops that have been selected. Building the directory VisitWidget created the app, and Shop Local was able to customize the colors and interface. The lion’s share of the work that Trass has been doing is populating the directory with businesses. While Trass and her team have already added around 300 listings to the directory, she hopes that locals will begin to add to the directories themselves. “The online directory and the app is meant to be populated by the local community. We try to add listings in there as much as possible, so people are represented,” Trass said. “The experts of the local businesses and local non-profits are the people that run them and serve them, so I’ve been trying to educate and energize the community to go onto the directory and either claim the listing if one’s been made or create one.” There are around 450 businesses and more than 50 local events in the directory, but Trass said she knows there are “way more than that.” If
people create their listings, they can share the information they want people to know about the business and customize it to their liking. Ever evolving Early feedback on the app has largely been positive. Trass said that people appreciate the app’s look and have been happy with the convenience of finding local businesses and events. Some of the constructive feedback they have received has been to resolve glitches or bugs in the app. Trass said she has not yet reviewed early data on the use of the app or how many downloads they’ve had. She noted that the app is “ever evolving” as more businesses and events are added to the directory. Going forward, Trass hopes people will share and advocate for the app. “Not only local businesses themselves, but also local citizens. I think everybody has had those weekends where they’re like, ‘Okay, what am I going to be doing this weekend, it would be really nice to see what’s happening locally,’” she said. “If people know of the app, then they can say, ‘Hey, let’s go download the Find it Local Columbia County app and see what’s happening this weekend.’” Trass said she is excited about this tool and hopes it makes it easier to help find local businesses and shop locally.
Courtesy graphic from Keep It Local
A sneak peek at what the app looks like.
Annual Kiwanis Gala returning
year. Tickets to the event are $45 per person, and though they generally don’t sell tickets at the door and have limited space, Davis said they have about eight to ten tickets still available for the event. To get a sneak peek at some of the items that will be up for auction, Davis said there are some on display at the Umpqua Bank and in the window of the Statefarm office.
Originally published in The Chief Vol. 132 October 27, 2023 WILL LOHRE Country Media, Inc.
The Kiwanis Club of Clatskanie is hosting its annual Kiwanis Gala, which is the largest fundraiser the organization puts on to support its many projects and scholarships to Clatskanie High School students. The gala will take place at the American Legion Hall at 930 NE 5th St., on Nov. 4. Organizer and Kiwanis Club Secretary Sandy Davis is expecting about 130 people to attend the fundraiser. “It is our largest fundraiser for this club. All of the money raised goes towards the many projects that we support here in town, as well as scholarships to Clatskanie High School students, and to the chance to become a scholarship program that is operated by Columbia Learning Center,” Davis said. Auction event The event will begin at 5 p.m. and will start with a silent auction and raffle tickets for sale. At 6 p.m., dinner will be served, and the event is being catered by the Berry Patch Restaurant from Westport. A live
Sponsorship opportunities
Mark Kuhn acting as the auctioneer as former Oregon State Senator Betsy Johnson displays an item up for bid.
auction will be the night’s final event, starting at 7 p.m. with the event wrapping up around 9 p.m. Mark Kuhn is the auctioneer, a role he has filled for the event for years. Some of the prizes up for grabs during the auctions will be a guided sturgeon trip, a weekend at the Embarcadero Resort Hotel in Newport, items
donated from the Lone Pine Film Festival, jewelry from the Diamond showcase, and a basket of cookies from Cryptid Cookies, among many other prizes. “Clatskanie High School, the shop teacher gets his kids to work and they create some beautiful things, too. So there will be some woodworking things done,” Davis said. “We’re
expecting a large garden bench from him. Some very unique items will be there.” This is about the 23rd year that the event has taken place, with the only interruptions being COVID-related in 2020 and 2021. Davis said they work for months preparing for the event, but it is worthwhile. “We work for months on
Courtesy photo from Sandy Davis
this, but it pays off! Like I said, it’s a great fundraiser. People have a good time, we raise a lot of money to support all of the things we do,” Davis said. Last year, the auction raised over $23,000, and after covering the event’s costs, the final total was around $20,000. Davis said that is about the average the fundraiser brings each
In order to support the event, Kiwanis solicits sponsorships from businesses in the area. Some of the key sponsors this year are Kinsey Construction, the Clatskanie PUD, Evenson Logging, and Next Renewables. They are always hoping for more sponsors so they can maximize the funds they raise. “We’d always love to have more sponsors,” Davis said. “That way, it offsets most of the cost of actually putting on the event, and then we don’t have to worry about using money that we raised to pay for the haul or the auctioneer and so forth.” To sponsor the event or inquire about tickets, contact Sandy Davis at 971-260-7652.
Below is a list of WHERE to pick up a FREE copy of the print edition of the News-Advertiser. Also available every week at: thechronicleonline.com and at thechiefnews.com CLATSKANIE • CLATSKANIE SAFEWAY • HI SCHOOL PHARMACY IN CLATSKANIE • CLATSKANIE MARKET SCAPPOOSE • ROAD RUNNER GAS & GROCERY
• JACKPOT 76 • ENGSTROM CHEVRON • B&B MARKET • FRED MEYER • SMOKE SHOP • NELSON NEIGHBORHOOD MARKET • ACE • GROCERY OUTLET
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• ACE • DON’S RENTAL DEER ISLAND • DEER ISLAND STORE COLUMBIA CITY • COLUMBIA CITY GROCERY & GAS
RAINIER • ALSTON STORE • DOLLAR GENERAL WESTPORT • THE BERRY BATCH RESTAURANT • WEST MART STORE
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