OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — Oil City is showing its heart for all the world to see.
“Oil City’s Got Heart!” is an initiative of the Oil City Main Street Program that encourages downtown businesses to put hearts in their storefront windows as a way of showing love for the local community and spreading a positive message during a challenging time.
According to Oil City Main Street Manager Kathy Bailey, over the past nine weeks, the Oil City Main Street Program has been supporting the businesses in the downtown district remotely, from home, via social media, their website, email, and via cell phone.
They are mostly sharing loan programs and financial resources, state and federal guidance, and industry tools via Zoom meetings with small groups of business owners to brainstorm ideas; the group has also participated in Zoom meetings and webinars with other Main Street colleagues.
Bailey told exploreVenango.com it was during one of those small business meetings in early May that some of the participants suggested spreading positive messages on storefront windows to give people something to smile about.
“We had recently learned of other communities, including Downtown West Chester, Pa., putting paper hearts in storefront windows,” Bailey explained.
“To put a local spin on it, we decided to call it ‘Oil City’s Got Heart!’ – because it’s true. So many people have rallied to support our small businesses, and now those same small businesses have rallied to support each other and other community members in many ways.”