Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) and Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce (GSVCC) were two of 11 Chambers that partnered with Association of Washington Business (AWB) and WA Department of Commerce in a Chamber Vaccine Incentive Program funded through State Emergency Disaster Relief Funds. This program coined “Give Local Business A Shot In The Arm” was designed as a statewide initiative to incentivize high risk populations to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The goal was to increase the immunized population to a level that reduces the risk to the greater population of infection. An additional goal was to help many of the struggling businesses in our communities by providing $50 gift card incentives to people who received vaccinations – with the ultimate goal of spending the money locally.
The program ran for almost four weeks in Spokane County, from June 16th through July 11th. Of the 4,000 $50 gift cards provided to GSI and GSVCC, over 3,000 were distributed in our community, totaling over $150,000. Nine different organizations partnered with GSI and GSVCC to distribute the gift cards and there were 41 unique pop-up and daily clinics that offered gift cards to those receiving vaccinations. During the last two weeks of the program, we were excited to increase the incentive to two gift cards ($100) for each person vaccinated.
Shout out to the great partners in our community who diligently worked with us daily; CHAS, Consistent Care, MultiCare, Providence, Gonzaga University, Range Health, Spectrum, Spokane Regional Health District, Unify, and The Native Project. Thank you all!
