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Small Business Revolution discusses finishing season for TV show remotely

Submitted Photo Downtown Fredonia in the daytime, overhead, a snapshot from Deluxe's footage.

COVID-19 has impacted the world, the community, and everything in between, including the filming of the TV show Small Business Revolution by Deluxe.

In a one-on-one interview with the OBSERVER, the co-hosts of the show gave their perspectives and thoughts.

“It certainly is a new experience. It’s amazing that we were lucky enough to get into Fredonia to meet the businesses, see the town, and see the spirit before the pandemic hit,” said Ty Pennington, co-host of the show.

Regarding the pandemic, Deluxe has taken lengthy measures to combat against the spread of the virus and focusing on the safety of the crew. In fact, the crew was supposed to be back in Fredonia this weekend to finish the filming of season 5, but due to travel restrictions, those plans have been canceled.

The show will finish filming virtually and remotely.

Submitted Photo Ty and Amanda stretch dough at one of the chosen businesses, learning how much work goes into their products.

“We’ve jumped through all the right hoops to keep everyone safe. Safety is our top priority,” said Amanda Brinkman, co-host of the show. “We’re following all the health and safety protocols. We typically would have been back to Fredonia two or three times by now, but we moved everything to video to keep everybody safe.”

Not only has the show transformed into an online venture, the community has as well. Ordering online has become the new standard in many homes, which will ultimately have an impact on small businesses.

“This crisis is affecting small businesses disproportionately,” Brinkman said. “A lot of small businesses are realizing that they need to have a strong online presence. If you have a great website, if you’re communicating with your customers, you can compete bigger online even if you are a small business.”

Though, according to Brinkman, it may not be as hard as some have thought. She explained that people in general really want to support small business right now. “So it’s up to the business owners to make that as easy as possible,” Brinkman said. “Make sure you’re communicating with your customers about how they can find you, how they can support you, your revised hours, your pickup procedures and process. These small businesses can not go away.”

From both of their perspectives, filming a TV show remotely and virtually is not easy. Brinkman and Pennington both agreed that it’s just not the same not being able to be with the businesses.

“There is something very powerful in in-person energy and just the physiological nature of being in a space,” Brinkman said. “The nature of this work is that we’re all rolling up our sleeves and working together. We’re still doing that from afar, but it doesn’t have the same energy or connection as we would if we were in person.”

Pennington also touched on the physical aspect of it as well, since he focuses more on the remodeling of the businesses. “You have to be in that space to really get an idea of what you’re working with. You have to talk to somebody in person to understand what their needs are and what their personality is like,” Pennington said. “It’s definitely a bigger challenge, but the real blessing is that we were able to spend time in these businesses early in the year.”

Brinkman shared that the seven businesses that were chosen, Fresh & Fancy Flowers & Gifts, Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County, The Hair Bar, Om Nohm Gluten Free, Nyce and Clean Premium Detailing, The Vineyards Golf Course and Lena’s Pizza and Sub Shop, went through some major remodeling. “Some of them are almost completely new, it’s like night and day,” Brinkman said.

Other than physical changes, the show is helping the businesses with marketing, finances and other behind-the-scenes work. “The biggest piece is that Deluxe does a full marketing makeover for the businesses featured,” Brinkman said. “That makes the biggest difference in terms of their business and that couldn’t be more true than it is this year.” Other changes include new websites, new logos, email marketing, branded shirts and uniforms, and signage that will be featured in the show.

Part of the show is dedicated to the downtown area and “Main Street” in general. This season, Deluxe donated about $20,000 dollars to the village of Fredonia to put in benches on Main Street and create banners for all the different festivals the village holds.

“It’s pretty incredible what Deluxe has been able to do, considering we are in the middle of a pandemic,” Pennington said. “I’m just super proud that the show has been able to shine a light on all these small businesses because this is the time when you realize just how important it is to support your local community.”

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