Local businesses recovering from the pandemic have a new way to tell customers that they’re open thanks to the new Craig School of Business project.

Designed to help promote companies that are returning to full operation after being affected by COVID-19, the project allows for an opportunity for workers to be appreciated for their work during the pandemic, in addition to paying tribute to those whose lives were lost.

“The pandemic has affected communities, significantly local businesses and family businesses are the economic engines of any community,” Fernando Parra, director of the Craig School’s Institute for Family Business (IFB), said.  

A significant component of BIB is the use of social media. Companies can send out tweets with the hashtags #BackInBusiness with the city they are in, as well as tweeting at Fresno State’s IFB Twitter account. 

“We are hoping that the social media campaign can elevate and promote businesses so that people are aware of who’s opening, and who’s open for business, and their hours,” Parra said. “Letting people know that they’re still here, they’re open for business and that they’re better or they’re back in business.”

The Back in Business (BIB) project, headed by Parra, collaborates between the Craig School’s Institute for Family Business and Tocoral. 

Tocoral is a Las Vegas-based company that offers solutions to accelerate comprehensive economic development rooted in local businesses.

Parra also mentions that faculty members contributing to the project include Nancy Van Leuven, assistant professor of media, communications and journalism and McDowell Porter, assistant professor of marketing. 

In Van Leuven’s advanced writing class, students write short stories for the BIB website while Porter’s students are responsible for creating social media posts that can promote companies in various ways.

“They can do Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, depending on the demographics of the target audience,” Porter said. “They’re posting #BackInBusiness, any promotions at companies having their favorite dish, their favorite product or service.”

Fresno State student Lucca Lorenzi, a student in Van Leuven’s advanced writing class, talked about what he did for the project, saying his “primary role in this was to write a small feature story for each business” that would encourage and inform the community of Fresno on local businesses. 

Fresno is not the only city that is participating in BIB. 

According to Parra, cities such as Las Vegas and Salford, United Kingdom, participate in the project. He is hopeful that more universities will join in the future.

For everyone involved, BIB means a lot to them. Van Leuven talks about the project as an opportunity to collaborate with students.

“I want to work with students on skills they’ll need to know,” Van Leuven said. “This is no longer a world of just textbooks and Scantron tests and all that sort of thing.” 

Van Leuven also mentioned how BIB allows students to practice professional etiquette.

Porter feels like the project not only provides a chance to give back to the community, but he also feels like the project offers an opportunity to get some real-world experience. 

“What was so great about it was that we were jumping into a real-world situation. We were helping real clients and our work was having a real impact,” Lorenzi said. “Learning how to reach out to businesses, how to write for them. And also try and capture their voice…That was really enjoyable,” Lorenzi said.

Parra also reflects on how he can give back to the community and family businesses in the Central Valley by participating in this project. 

“I think that we want people to be proud of being back in business. This [BIB] is not meant to be political. This is meant to celebrate the business community that is so intertwined with us,” Parra said. “I thought it was important that we made a precedent in the promotion as well because, like any other community partner, we want to make sure that we tell our community that we’re with them.”

To find out more about BIB, search the hashtag #BackInBusiness on social media and the account @FresnoStateIFB on Twitter.