Showering Dogs & Cats on Main: Welcoming New Businesses

Main Street Vermilion hosted its first New Business Shower on Thursday, April 8th at Dogs and Cats on Main. Local businesses, organizations and individuals stopped by to introduce themselves and welcome Holly Pongallo and her pet grooming business to the community. located at 5541B Main Street, accessible from the public parking lot between Grand and Main Street.

“Main Street Vermilion wanted to come up with a novel way to welcome new businesses to town,” said Marilou Suszko, Main Street’s executive director. “More importantly, we wanted to create an easy way for established business owners to know their new neighbors.”

Shortly before and during the COVID pandemic, more than a dozen new businesses opened throughout Vermilion. “The business community has never been able to give them a proper welcome,” said Suszko. “So the shower idea allowed neighboring businesses  to stop in at their leisure throughout the day and make an introduction.”

Suszko said the response was excellent and spoke to the need and trend for business owners to connect, work together to support one another. “More than 25 businesses stopped in, including Mayor Forthofer and  businesses located along the eastern corridor,” she said.

More business showers are planned in the near future. “We have some catching up to do to acknowledge all new businesses,” said Suszko. She encouraged people to follow the Main Vermilion on social media page for announcements and for businesses to join the Vermilion Business Connection Facebook page to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the business community.

For more information on MSV new business showers or if you’re a new businesses, contact Amy Hoffman, Main Street Vermilion special projects coordinator at 440.963.0772 or mainstreetvermilion@gmail.com