Free Training Program Helps Bloomfield Businesses Amid Pandemic

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — An effort to provide a boost to Bloomfield businesses during the coronavirus pandemic has been a success – and there’s a chance it may return in the future, spokespeople say.

The Bloomfield Center Alliance (BCA) recently launched a new small business initiative dubbed “Accelerate Your Success!”, which offers training and technical assistance in marketing and branding to the local small business community.

“We are proud to launch this initiative and assist our small business community to make the pivot through the pandemic and beyond,” BCA Executive Director Ollyn Lettman said.

The free program was launched on the heels of a BCA-taken survey in the summer of 2020, which tried to get a bead on what local businesses needed most to help them survive the pandemic.

Their replies included:

• help establishing online stores
• help with social media/marketing
• assistance with e-commerce

When the state of New Jersey announced a COVID-19 relief package last fall that specifically targeted “Main Street” businesses and downtown organizations like the BCA, the nonprofit applied for a grant that ultimately made the Accelerate Your Success! program possible.

The BCA partnered with Suasion Communications Group, a woman-owned, New Jersey-based marketing and public relations agency to run its training series, which includes tips on “building brand loyalty” and “low-cost advertising strategies,” both important tactics for struggling businesses in the pandemic.

The eight-week training series kicked off in February. And while it’s too late to join the current round of trainings, the BCA is hopeful it can find a way to keep the program going, Lettman said.

It’s already been a boost to local business owners such as Lois and Devin Baker of Dev's Jamaican Cuisine Restaurant.

“Neither one of us are tech savvy, so at first we were hesitant to sign up,” they said. “We ultimately decided to do it because the program was free, and it presented a great opportunity to meet other business owners and learn from an expert in marketing.”

“Even after years of working with digital media brands and news organizations, BCA's Accelerate Your Success! program has helped me re-ground in the basic principles of marketing and branding that I need to grow and sustain our work,” said Simon Galperin of the Bloomfield Information Project.

“Bringing people together to share and learn from each other in this way is exactly what our community needs,” Galperin said.

According to one of the participants, Simone Ganesh-Goode of GoodeLiving, the classes are already producing positive results.

“One of my goals is to increase the visibility of the business which of course leads to revenue," she recently shared. “Since the start of the program, I've implemented what I learned each week by revamping my Instagram page, making and posting videos, and celebrating wins with the marketing strategies discussed during our Tuesday Zoom calls. After just four weeks, my number of IG followers has grown by 53 percent.”

“Our BCA team is pleased with the feedback we have gotten thus far from the business owners,” Lettman reported. “The 19 registered participants are receiving excellent instruction regarding strategies to market their businesses during these unprecedented times and also making great connections with each other that may lead to viable relationships in the future.”

This story is part of Patch's Headlining Hope series, which profiles local nonprofits and charitable organizations in need of volunteers and resources. If you know about a local organization that should be profiled, contact eric.kiefer@patch.com

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