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EDWARDSBURG — The Edwardsburg Chamber of Commerce is offering a new program to both promote local business and give residents a chance to win a prize.

The Edwardsburg Chamber of Commerce recently launched a monthly giveaway initiative. Each month, the chamber will announce a prize that community members can enter to win at a number of participating businesses. At the end of each month, a drawing will be hosted, and a winner announced.

According to Chamber Administrator Roy Smothermon, the program’s goal is to entice residents to enter local businesses and become familiar with businesses they may not have otherwise known about.

“This is two-fold,” Smothermon said. “It’s both a way to get people into the businesses and a way for the chamber to get our face our face out there and let people know that we support the community.”

The prize drawing for April will be a $25 gift card provided by the chamber. There are currently four business accepting entries for the drawing: the Cass District Library, Ontwa Township Hall, Circle Federal Credit Union and Lorie Bowers State Farm.

“Each month, I will go around to the various businesses that have a box for registration. We will gather those, take them to the chamber meeting, and draw out a winner,” Smothermon said. “Each month, [the prize] will be something different.”

In the future, Smothermon said he would be working on getting more local businesses involved with the chamber giveaway, both as places for community members to enter and as donors for the monthly giveaway.

“It doesn’t have to be a lot,” Smothermon said of business contributions. “This is a way to get people from our area into the businesses.”

Smothermon said he was inspired by a similar program hosted by the chamber of commerce in his hometown in Oklahoma.

“Each month, those businesses were packed,” he said. “It was a big success, so I thought, ‘why not do that here?’”

Smothermon said he is hopeful the program will be just as successful in Edwardsburg.

“I’m excited to see this grow,” he said.

For more information or to participate as a business, contact Smothermon at admin@edwardsburgchamber.org or by phone at (574) 343-3721 or (574) 215-6527.

The current prize and a list of participating businesses will be listed each month at edwardsburgchamber.org.