Voting is underway for Small Business Revolution
■ Siloam Springs is in the running to be featured on the show.
Individuals and organizations in Siloam Springs are working together to help the town win the competition to be featured on Season 3 of the HULU show Small Business Revolution: Main Street. Public voting for the winner began on Feb. 13 and ends on Feb. 20.
Show host Amanda Brinkman announced that Siloam Springs is one of five finalists for the show on Feb. 13. She also announced that Ty Pennington, of “Trading Spaces,” and “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” will be her cohost for Season 3.
The winner will be announced on Feb. 27 and will receive $500,000 for revitalization as well as advice from the marketing experts at Deluxe Corporation. The winning town’s story will air in fall of 2018, according to a press release from Deluxe.
Main Street Siloam Springs started a campaign to get out the vote immediately after Brinkman’s announcement on Tuesday. Each individual can vote once per day, per email address, per device by visiting www.smallbusinessrevolution.org. For daily text message reminders, text Siloam to 797979.
The effort quickly spread to other organizations, businesses and individuals across the state. Even Gov. Asa Hutshinson got involved, posting a Facebook video on Wednesday.
“Arkansas is so proud that the producers of the hit show Small Business Revolution have selected Siloam Springs to be featured as one of the finalists for the show,” Hutchinson said in the video. “If Siloam wins, it will also receive half a million dollars, which will go toward small business development in the community. Siloam Springs is an Arkansas gem. It’s charm and entrepreneurial spirit make it a natural fit for the show but it needs your vote to make it happen.”
State Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R-District 87) made a banner that promoted voting for Siloam Springs and took it with her to the state capitol to encourage legislators from across the state to vote for Siloam Springs. House of representative members from across the state posed for a picture with the banner on the House steps on Feb. 14.
“This is a great opportunity for Siloam Springs and for Arkansas to be featured on a national stage,” Lundstrum said. “A large investment like this into local businesses can help continue the revitalization process that small business owners, the city of Siloam, Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Siloam Springs have worked so hard to invest over the years. We need everyone to vote to help make this a reality.”
On Friday, Small Business Revolution posted the second set of rankings on its Facebook page. Siloam Springs came in fourth, ahead of Martinez, Calif. More updates were expected to be released over the weekend, after press time.
Kelsey Howard, director of Main Street Siloam Springs, said the numbers are very close.
“It’s anybody’s game, it’s so close,” Howard said. “We’re all bunched up together. … We could totally win this but we need to start thinking very creatively.”
Howard encouraged residents to reach out to anyone they know who might have a network that could be encouraged to vote. For example, someone might reach out to their grandpa who is a retired police officer with lots of buddies on the department or an aunt who is a member of Rotary Club, who can reach out to Rotary Clubs across the state, she said.
“Everybody knows somebody that has connections that can make a huge difference in the vote,” she said.
Siloam Springs was named one of the top 20 towns in November and advanced to become one of the top 10 towns in December. Brinkman and her team visited Siloam Springs in mid-January as part of their tour of the top 10 towns.
For more information about the show, to vote, or to watch Seasons 1 and 2, visit www.smallbusinessrevolution.org. For updates on the voting, visit the Small Business Revolution Facebook page.
It’s anybody’s game, it’s so close. We’re all bunched up together … We could totally win this but we need to start thinking very creatively. Kelsey Howard Director of Main Street Siloam Springs