Festivals surely increase traffic for restaurants and gasoline stations, but do they really benefit stores in downtown Dowagiac?

“Summer in the City,” which lasts three days at the end of July, probably boosts shopping the most, “but profits for merchants aren’t real high, quite honestly, but we can educate people about what we offer. Retailers think about those festivals as banking on return customers and  investing in what we hope will be long-term visitors.

“Day visitors, whether they’re from Chicago or Elkhart, Ind., return again and again to spend money in our neighborhood when they enjoy what they saw the first time,” Kris Lamphere told Dowagiac Rotary Club Thursday noon at Elks Lodge 889.

“Last year after the Easter egg hunt, the bunny sat in my store and we gave away 300 coloring books in three hours. Miss Dowagiac kicked off Monday evening which involves a lot of community members and sponsors. Rod and Roll, which is always the third Saturday in August, was estimated 5,000 people attended. There were 250 cars registered, of which 175 showed up because it rained. Ed and Sue Kazlauskas retired from their chairmanship after 20 years.”

Lamphere, who majored in communications at Michigan State University, opened her WHO kNEW? consignment store for newborns to teens in April 2007 in the former Majerek’s location.

She came here 15 years ago from Chicago to “stay where (she) played.” Her sons Paul and Josh are in high school and sixth grade.

Rotarian Patti Badner serves on the board of the volunteer-based, 130-member Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce in the depot.

Kris is Chamber secretary.

There is one paid fulltime employee, Program Director Vickie Phillipson, whose position is shared with the city through the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

“Vickie’s tireless in promoting our town,” Lamphere agrees when President-elect Barbara Groner praises the “super job” Phillipson does.

The Chamber sponsors nine annual events: Ice Time Festival, the 72-year-old Miss Dowagiac Scholarship Pageant, Easter Eggstravaganza, Summer in the City (Fun Fest), Rod and Roll, Dowagiac Old-Fashioned Christmas Celebration with Open House Weekend Nov. 19-21 and the Candle-Light Christmas Parade and Tree-Lighting Ceremony Friday, Dec. 3, Beckwith Park summer concerts Thursday evenings for 12 weeks and the Community-Wide Garage Sale, in which Rotary participates.

“Our goal with every event is not only to provide quality entertainment to our visitors, but to provide an opportunity for our local businesses to encourage them to return,” Lamphere said. “Chamber members are eligible for specialty advertising programs we offer promoting these events. Additionally, direct mail brochures are sent to more than 4,000 addresses in 70 communities in the tri-state area. The Chamber has a Web site, dowagiacchamber.com. The Chamber of Commerce currently has in circulation more than $36,000 Dowagiac universal gift certificates good at member businesses. They can be redeemed by any Chamber member business for goods and services, then reimbursed by the Chamber.”

That means not only stores, she noted, but everything from gasoline to utilities.

“The hospital purchased a quantity” which Borgess-Lee gives out should it fail to meet its advertised time for seeing patients.

“Gift certificates insure dollars stay in our community,” Lamphere said.

Businesses also buy gift certificates for holiday bonuses.

“In the coming year,” she said, “the Chamber Board of Directors plans, with the help of our member volunteers, to expand Business After Hours, a program which showcases community businesses and topics of interest, while providing a social opportunity for members who so rarely get to share time and ideas.

“First Source successfully hosted one this year.”

Rotarian Carol Styburski manages 1st Source’s Dowagiac banking center.

Lamphere said 2011 will be rung in at the Chamber with a membership drive.

“The Chamber board recognizes that in a challenging economy, an association membership is not as easy a business decision as it once was,” Lamphere said.

“Companies have to demonstrate a return on investment for virtually every expenditure made. Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce takes pride in the tangible benefits it provides members” for a cost that starts at $145 for small businesses with 10 employees or less.

“We market as a group what Dowagiac has to offer,” she said, whether it is through newspapers, television commercials or radio spots. Chamber networking events provide educational opportunities. Chamber members can also access our mailing database free of charge. According to a national study, when business decisionmakers know a business is a Chamber member, they’re more likely to think positively of its local reputation and 53 percent more likely to buy goods and services from it in the future.

“Now, more than ever, investment in your Chamber of Commerce increases the strength of our business community and keeps our economy growing. We’re looking for volunteers for all of our events. There’s never enough hands on deck. We’re also looking for new events and ways to fund them.”