Residents Are Loving A New Gravenhurst Delivery Program

A new pilot project in Gravenhurst is helping area businesses maintain a vital lifeline in the community, while promoting COVID-19 safety measures.

The program, which launched last week, covers the cost of delivery for businesses in Gravenhurst allowing them to offer delivery service for free. The cost of delivery is being covered by the Parry Sound Muskoka Community Network (PMCN) and the Gravenhurst Chamber of Commerce.

“We felt like this was an opportunity to help bridge the costs, and to help encourage more businesses to adopt digital technology ,” says Stuart Morley, the Executive Director of PMCN. “Because delivery costs are covered we’re also hoping this will encourage customers to order online, which is part of our PMCN mandate.”

Morley says he first got the idea for the free delivery program after catching wind of a similar partnership between the Town of Innisfil and local small businesses there.

“In Innisfil many businesses saw a large jump in orders compared to the previous weeks,” says Morley. His statistics indicate many businesses saw orders double and even triple in the week following the launch of the program.

Morley reached out to the chambers and the Gravenhurst Chamber jumped on the idea, and with the support of the Chamber Directors the Chamber has also contributed funding and reached out to their roughly 300  members to see who might benefit from the program.

“We saw an opportunity for the Chamber to help get the community working  together,” says Morley. “Supporting community partnerships is also part of our focus at PMCN.”

Sandy Lockhart, the Executive Director of the Gravenhurst Chamber, says they immediately recognized the potential of the pilot project.

“Like everywhere else, there are a lot of businesses in Gravenhurst that are hurting right now,” says Lockhart. “We saw an opportunity here for them to still do some business in the community at no extra cost to them. This also puts safety first, and will encourage local businesses to move towards e-commerce and new technologies.”

So far more than a dozen businesses in Gravenhurst have decided to take part in the project. With the great response, MPCN is now in talks to launch a similar project in the Almaguin area.

To get involved or to find out more contact manager@gravenhurstchamber.com