With roots on Long Island, NY, the team behind Operation Main Street is truly #NewYorkTough. And tough challenges like those imposed by COVID-19 call for all the creativity, innovation and scrappy smarts a grassroots technology initiative like Operation Main Street can muster. Produced pro bono by Huntington based eGifter.com, this free, searchable directory lets community residents across the county — and country — save their favorite local shops and restaurants with immediate cash infusions derived from gift card purchases. That’s why we are so proud to be awarded the distinction as the flagship solution of Suffolk Forward, a bold plan led by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. 

Bellone crafted the Suffolk Forward plan in collaboration with the county’s sharpest problem solvers, technology leaders and academicians. Said Bellone, “Suffolk Forward is an exciting new partnership that will allow local businesses to leverage expertise and resources to improve their operations and IT infrastructure.”

Local Economic Development

It All Starts with a Plan

The Suffolk Forward Plan was designed in cooperation with Stony Brook University College of Business and has five distinct initiatives designed to help local businesses. Anyone with questions can contact the  Suffolk County Business Recovery Unit at Suffolk 311 or suffolkcountyny.gov/bru. 

1. Dubbed the Suffolk Forward Gift Card Platform, OperationMainStreet.com offers free business listings to companies that sell gift cards online with an easy-to-search interface that lets residents support their favorite stores with gift card purchases. Suffolk County business listings are here.
2. The Suffolk Forward Job Board provides Suffolk County Residents with access to regional job opportunities and businesses with a pool of talented applicants searching for new employment opportunities. 
3. The remaining three initiatives provide small businesses with support and education services delivered by Stony Brook University designed to meet the challenges identified by small businesses. These initiatives include the Tech Enhancement Program, the Suffolk Forward “Pandemic Shift” Business Workshops, and the Suffolk Forward Virtual Expert Network.

Said Brian Yudewitz, Chairman of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, “We as a chamber are happy to see action being taken by the county to assist businesses.  Huntington has been hit hard by the stay at home order and our businesses will need help from all levels of government to assist in the recovery and reopening.” 

Working together, and alongside great local leaders Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, we will carry on stronger than ever.

With each passing day, the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks more and more havoc on our society, putting lives at stake and our country at economic risk. But in the face of it all, we’re also seeing good, old fashioned American Spirit rise to battle the blaze. Every day at the stroke of 7pm, people are stepping away from their living rooms and into the streets. Their cheers and thanks are directed at the healthcare workers who put their own lives in harm’s way caring for the sick and suffering, In our own response to the nation’s call for help, the eGifter team quickly conceptualized, developed and launched a solution that is having a dramatic, healing effect: OperationMainStreet.com. As a national initiative with local roots, Operation Main Street is an emergent technology solution offering real help to real people. Through the combined power of both search engine and gift card technologies, the Operation Main Street platform adds an economic spending boost to local communities and neighborhoods across the United States. Operation Main Street is a uniquely designed local business directory where search requests automagically return a list of stores in selected zip codes that serve *you* and *your* community. Read on to learn how it works and to see how good neighbors like you can literally save livelihoods in your own backyard. And, in turn, through spending boons through gift card sales, local businesses and organizations can stay in business to serve the community that loves them.

OperationMainStreet.com: A Free Searchable Local Business Directory Making Gift Cards Accessible

Making sure neighborhood businesses can be easily found by local residents who want to save their favorite shops and restaurants is the promise delivered by the powerhouse business directory at OperationMainStreet.com. Together, we’ll endeavor toward the better days that lie ahead.

Neighbors: Save Your Favorite Local Restaurants and Shops

At this precarious time in our nation’s history, we’ve all reached the same conclusion: We must do our collective part to help small business owners in our towns and villages stay solvent, pay their rent and taxes, and employ salaried workers. Helping small businesses stay afloat and feed their own families is the task at hand, which will in turn empower them to pay the local taxes on which our towns depend. Keeping businesses going is a moral and financial imperative. It’s the only way that we, the people, will maintain access to food, essentials and services upon which we depend to keep our homes and families safe, well and active. Search local stores in the directory. 

Local Businesses: Keep the Revenue Rolling

Residents of every U.S. community are clamoring to patronize local stores to help them stay in business. Gift cards make it super easy for customers to buy products and services because they are incredibly accessible and flexible payment currencies. Already offer gift cards? Great, add your listing! Have never offered gift cards but want to? Great, we can help! List your business in the directory. 

Chambers of Commerce: Help Your Community Thrive

As the heart of any community, Chambers of Commerce across the U.S. have a vested interest in promoting and protecting the interests of its members, citizens and businesses. With the ability to “Claim Your Town”, you’ll soon acquire a customized website and dynamic local business directory personalized to your town. Made with the organizations below in mind, our team is ready, willing and able to accept and convert your inquiry into an actionable solution — a website and local directory of your very own. List your town and generate a local directory. 

• Chambers of Commerce
• Local Municipalities
• Business Associations
• Regional Web Directories
• Local Radio Stations
• Local Television Stations
• Local Newspapers

The World Needs All the Good We Can Muster. 

Yes, there is uncertainty about tomorrow. And true, there are no guarantees for the health and safety of our families, friends and loved ones. However, we say this with 100% certainty: Through sheer determination and human spirit, leaders will lead. At eGifter, we will continue to innovate new paths to health, safety and connectedness through gift cards and related technologies. The team at eGifter is on the job. And we don’t plan to clock out any time soon.

Share your Small Business Story at our Help Center.

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