The new general manager of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters called last week to take me up on my offer of a tour of Sumner. He was especially interested in where all the local eateries are.
Keep in mind he has employees, out-of-town business executives and even family members interested in what Sumner has to offer. Green Mountain is already very familiar with the Rhubarb Pie Capital brand. It was one of the tipping points when the company chose to locate in Sumner rather than any of the other four local cities which also had great transportation access, zoning, etc. They liked the sense of community here and thought it would be a good environment for their employee base. They even served Berryland rhubarb pie at its grand opening.
So I picked Mr. Rader up in the T-bird and off we drove through town. I started with restaurants on Main Street, pointed out the Joy of Rhubarb book in the window at A Good Book (couldn’t help myself) and then realized I was sharing a lot about the buildings, history and unique things you can get in our downtown.
I mean, if you can’t find a Mother’s Day present for your favorite mom in our downtown, then you aren’t trying very hard. Plus, it’s easy for me to share about the great customer service people receive and how fun it is when they shop or eat in our downtown.
After singing the praises of our Main Street, I expanded my restaurant identification tour to a few blocks out from Main Street and then headed east where I showed him at least a dozen more eateries and watering holes.
Of course, I couldn’t help taking him by the Food Bank, the proposed future site of the YMCA and a rhubarb farm or two before taking him back to work with a promise to e-mail some follow up information.
It might sound like a simple thing to do and tours really are when you love your work. But if you think about the potential of the time spent and how word-of-mouth travels, here’s something else to ponder.
I love being strategic and if you think about a manager of a local company who has 200 employees and the impact of referrals to not only the employees and potentially their referrals to families, friends and out-of-town corporate executives who come to visit, it doesn’t take long to realize the time spent on a tour is time well spent indeed.
We all know it’s my job to promote Sumner, but what I’m constantly amazed at are all the other folks in town who also love to talk about how great our community and downtown is.
Even Megan Black from Evening Magazine was at Berryland last week identifying the Rhubarb Pie Capital as one of the great Northwest escapes. And when Megan asked Lola what made the pie so special, she answered “the Sumner rhubarb, of course.”
When a whole town of business owners becomes strategic about their combined messaging, the power of their unified efforts is clearly something to be behold. And the clear message here for newcomers is it’s fun to spend some time in Sumner.
