Moncton Chamber of Commerce using 350K in federal funding to attract people downtown

Christopher Lopez, who manages C’est la vie Café in downtown Moncton, says despite the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions, business is nothing like it was before the pandemic.

“We’re seeing a little improvement, but it’s nowhere near what it used to be,” he said in an interview on Monday.

He said even events like the Rotary Rib Fest or the Atlantic Nationals, which attracted thousands of people to the city, aren’t making up for the reduced foot traffic from office workers.

“Perfect example is the car show…. We were expecting a lot more business. It was very hurtful. It pained me inside to actually work. A lot of patios were just empty.”

Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce CEO John Wishart is hopeful that new programming they will be implementing using a $350,000 investment from the federal government will make a difference.

They will be hiring five social media ambassadors who will be making content advertising downtown events and businesses for 10 weeks this summer.

“So for a small business that probably doesn’t have the marketing budget, we’ll be there to help spread the word,” he said on Monday.

He said some of the federal investment will pay for branded electric vehicles, which will allow them to travel to other main streets in New Brunswick.

The money will also be used to hold a festival promoting local businesses in mid-September.

“We’ll encourage as many (New Brunswick businesses) to come to Moncton on a weekend in September, we’ll set up booths so they can sell their products and services, we’ll have some local musicians, we’ll have local food vendors. The whole idea is to support local,” he said.

Lopez applauds the initiative, saying while events and festivals brought many people to the city, a more targeted initiative to bring people downtown was needed.

Wishart is hoping that the increased residential construction in the downtown core will lead to more steady foot traffic in the long term.

“There are maybe fewer people working downtown than there were. There are increasingly more people living downtown,” he said.