"We have nothing to fear, but fear itself," President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said in 1933, upon taking office not long after the beginning of the Great Depression.
While certainly the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce isn't taking on the whole of the recession, it is taking the right steps toward restoring confidence in local business.
Shopping locally is the first tenet of the "We're Helping Our Local Economy," and has long been key to keeping Carson Valley merchants in business.
Competition from Carson and other points north have long provided a challenge for Minden and Gardnerville.
It doesn't help that the county is using redevelopment to roll out the red carpet for businesses on the northern boundary.
But getting customers in the door is only the first step in keeping them. That's why it's critical that Valley businesses offer over-the-top customer service and competitive pricing in order to keep customers coming back.
As a business community, we need to recognize that customer loyalty is a two-way street.
It's not enough to open a storefront on Main Street and hope people beat a path to your door.
