Help Support CR & Marion Businesses Impacted by Construction

The spring and summer months see a lot of construction here in Eastern Iowa, which can mean bad news for local businesses. Unfortunately, locally-owned businesses in both Cedar Rapids and Marion have already been negatively impacted by road closures and torn up streets, so it's more important than ever to show them your support!

According to a recent article from KCRG, local celebrity Joe Sample has teamed up with Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust to help boost traffic at some of these impacted businesses with a new campaign called "Cookies for Construction." The concept is pretty simple. Every Friday, Joe stops out at a predetermined place to hand out 20 gift cards worth $10 each. Oh yeah, and there's free cookies from Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, too!

So far, 'Cookies for Construction' has taken place at two local businesses: Chophouse Downtown in Cedar Rapids and Short's Burger and Shine in Marion. The owner of Chophouse Downtown told KCRG:

”Once they started this construction our business sales dropped dramatically and we’ve had to cut a lot of our staff hours and that you know they rely on this income to take care of their families."

You may have to park a little bit farther away from some of these places than you usually do, but the minor inconvenience will ensure that these businesses are still around when the construction is complete.

The schedule for 'Cookies for Construction' is already set! Here are all of the dates and locations on the calendar:

May 27th
- Goldfinch Tap + Eatery - 740 10th St, Marion

June 3rd
- Lion Bridge Brewing Company - 59 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids
- Rodina - 1507 C Street SW, Cedar Rapids

June 10th
- Lucky’s on 16th - 86 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

June 17th
- The Red Frog - 88 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

June 24th
- Jimmy Z’s - 112 2nd St SE, Cedar Rapids

July 1st
- Runt’s Munchies - 529 5th Ave SE, Cedar Rapids
- The Hip-Stir - 1120 7th Ave, Marion
- Zoey’s Pizzeria - 690 10th St, Marion

August 5th
- Big Shots - 1803 6th Ave, Marion

August 12th
- Cafe Saint Pio - 99 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

August 19th
- Frydae - 743 10th St, Marion
- Bistro 319 - 796 11th St, Marion
- SOKO Outfitters - 41 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

August 26th
- Up in Smoke BBQ - 92 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

September 2nd
- Craft’d - 333 1st St SE, Cedar Rapids

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