Sent to the Botetourt View this morning by Maggi George owner of the “House on Main Street.”

Thank you for your time at the meeting tonight and I appreciate anything you can do to help the Buchanan businesses through this difficulty. As I mentioned,( at the meeting on April 2 at the Buchanan Theatre) not only are we impacted as residents of the town, but our livelihoods are directly attached to the town and cannot be moved. With the trouble of the bad economy already impacting businesses the addition of the “tainted water” issue may be more than we can handle ourselves. I ask you both to take a few moments to read the email dialogue below between myself and an interested customer over the last 2 days as it is direct evidence of the concerns I voiced this evening. (Ed. note:The email correspondence she included reflected a change of heart on the part of a potential customer resident in Blacksburg due to the water problem.) Statistics state that for every voiced negative there are from 35-47 unvoiced, so already we are beginning to see a downward trend against Buchanan as a “dining destination.” In addition, Kay from the Old Buchanan Family Restaurant, told me this evening that tonight and last night (since the news came out) that they have been “way off” sales and are worried.

Before the town hall meeting was scheduled we were supposed to have had a Business Association meeting tonight. I believe it is imperative we have a new meeting scheduled ASAP to calmly put our heads together and build a strong marketing position to protect our businesses. I think this should include some kind of monthly strip ad reminding folks we are here and well! We’d love to have you at the meeting as well to brain-storm with us! As you both probably already know, I come from a 20 year marketing career and know how bad even an implied problem can be. I believe we, the business community, must pro-actively take a stance and not wait till the worst happens. But, we will need your help to accomplish this goal. Please think about anything that might help us to hold onto what little ground we still hold.

Thanks for your time and concerns, as always,

Maggi George
The House on Main Street
www.thehouseonmainstreet.biz

OTHER COVERAGE OF THE BUCHANAN WATER SITUATION:
* April 3: Town meeting in Buchanan airs views on water situation
* April 2: More on the water contamination from Mayor Middlecamp
* April 2: Buchanan may have to boil water for up to a year
* April 2: Updated on Buchanan water situation
* April 2: Buchanan water contaminated, public meeting set for 6 p.m.

So what do you think? You can leave a comment below.