Hello,

Student at Reedy High School and YEA alumni set up a community advertisement display in the Frisco Rotary Farmers Market to feature businesses in her local community as they reopen their doors to the public again.

Aparna Amaneerthi, an incoming 11th grader at Reedy High School, alumni of Young Entrepreneur Academy and BPA, and a Reedy Orchestra member, and Dhyana Ramakrishan, a 7th grader, alumni of YEA, and the CEO of Enviofriendly, have started a community project called “WE UNITE” with the hopes of creating a community advertising space. Aparna Amaneerthi claimed that they felt that if people were to bring small businesses to a large audience, potential customers will become more aware of them and help small business owners get back on their feet and support the economy. Their beliefs drove them to create such a space in the Frisco Rotary Farmers Market.

From June 13 to July 25, Aparna Amaneerthi and Dhyana Ramakrishan have received permission to help small businesses advertise by using the community bulletin board at the Frisco Rotary Farmers Market every Saturday from 8 am to noon. Small business owners can put up their flyers on the board in hopes of gaining more customers. Aparna and Dhyana believe that this would help small businesses get more support during these hard times, as the coronavirus pandemic has caused many businesses to have to restart. They wish that this project will help small businesses get one step closer to how they were before the quarantine.

When asked about why they thought of creating such a community project, Aparna replied

I watched the news on how many small businesses are struggling to be open due to the pandemic. I also thought about the many small businesses which do not have the resources and how if they closed, many employees are left without jobs. That day forward I made it my mission to help however I can to contribute to these small businesses.
Hopefully, their efforts will not go unnoticed and small businesses will be getting the attention they deserve.

Why do small businesses matter? Well, small businesses account for 99.7 percent of all US businesses, and the money spent at a local business generates 3.5 times more wealth for the local economy making it essential for them to be up and running in our community. Small businesses generate 54 percent of all sales and employ 56.8 million Americans. Since the 1970s, they have created 66% of the new jobs in the nation which supports Aparna’s claim about many losing jobs if small businesses were to close permanently. There are 28.8 million small businesses in America alone, and it is thanks to people like Aparna Amaneerthi and Dhyana Ramakrishan that they stay open. Please keep in mind that these statistics are from before quarantine.

Aparna and Dhyana hope to help local businesses as much as possible by taking the initiative to market them to bring in customers that can support them as they are reopening their doors. Aparna has also taken the stand to offer her own services to create flyers for free for any small businesses which need them. Learn more about her advertising agency by going to the following website: https://adbombagency.weebly.com/. If you would like to learn more about the project itself, watch the following linked video: https://www.wevideo.com/view/1743618837

Story From:

Sahasra Tummala
https://thevoiceoffrisco.wixsite.com/website/post/we-unite

Contact
amarneethi.aparna@gmail.com