The Listing Loon sign is unveiled by owners Beth Harris and Dave Mikkelsen; photo courtesy of the Queen City Project

Updates
This was a month of celebration: CoSign officially unveiled 9 signs in the Northside neighborhood on Black Friday. This served as the culminating event of the second round of CoSign. The signs are installed in the neighborhood in mid-November and remain covered until the official unveiling. Every business owner is sent up in a cherry picker to uncover their sign for their family, friends, customers and the entire Northside Community. CoSign couples the event with a shop local event in Northside and works to create an environment that supports a lively atmosphere. We hired carolers, musicians, and entertainers to create an event that turned into an impromptu parade that worked its way along Hamilton Avenue, unveiling sign after sign.

Recent Wins
The participating businesses pay $500 towards the cost of their sign in the form of gift cards or cash. If the businesses gave us cash, we used it to buy gift cards at local Northside businesses. We distributed those gift cards to participants in the project this month to hopefully increase the amount of individuals shopping in the Northside Community. Some businesses have reported individuals using the gift cards to buy larger purchases from their business such as a road bike. We are happy to be able to help drive economic development in the community of Northside.

Some of the businesses participating in the project have noticed an increase in sales this month especially during the shop local event. Here is an article featuring one of the business owners talking about her increase in sales this year.

Insight/Provocation
It is amazing to think that in six months we have completed one round of CoSign. Although the pace has been hurried, we believe that the pace keeps individuals engaged in the project and keeps CoSign a main priority for participants. We are always working to find the balance of a timeline that is achievable but also quick. We love that our project makes a change in a community in six months and will continue to search for the perfect timeline for the CoSign project.