Shop Owensboro kicks off 8th year

Shop Owensboro kicks off 8th year

Nov. 27—Community members filed into Independence Bank’s main branch Saturday morning to grab bags full of goodies from local businesses as ‘Shop Owensboro, Powered by Independence Bank” kicked off.

The event, sponsored by Independence Bank, is hosted by the Greater Owensboro Chamber in Commerce and continues through Dec. 3.

“The crowd is continuing to grow,” said Nick Oller, Daviess County president for Independence Bank. “The hype for this event goes back several years. We’re looking forward to another exciting day.”

Candance Castlen Brake, chamber president, said a record amount of local businesses (70) are participating in Shop Owensboro.

“They’re all small businesses, which makes up about 90% of our local economy,” she said. “It’s just a really important day to get out and promote local, because those are the people who donate to our causes, who are our neighbors and our friends. We have to do what we have to do to make them successful.”

Oller said when Charles Reid created the bank, he wanted it to be different.

“He wanted to make an impact in our community, and today is no doubt making a big impact in our community,” Oller said. “That’s why we do it. It’s a way to say thank you to our community, thank you to our customers and definitely a thank you to these small businesses here in Owensboro.”

Since Shop Owensboro began in 2015, there have been changes and adaptations that have had to be made.

“We had to adapt through COVID, obviously, but every year we’ve added different things and ways to promote the businesses,” Brake said. “We always try to make it a little bit more fun. The Independence Bank group, they know how to make things fun.”

Oller said this was the first time Shop Owensboro has had a 5K. The Holiday Hustle 5K is sponsored by the Neblett Center and CASA of the Ohio Valley.