Shop St. Joseph kicks off Wednesday

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce kicked off its 19th annual Shop St. Joseph Holiday Program Wednesday.

The program is designed to encourage residents to shop local during the holidays.

Shoppers can collect tickets from Nov. 12 to Dec. 15.

One lucky shopper will win a $10,000 grand prize.

Shoppers will also have the chance to win $2,500 for shopping at small businesses. For the purpose of the program, the Chamber defines a small business as a "locally-owned business with 10 or fewer employees."

Shoppers will also have an opportunity to win second-chance prizes from participating merchants.

During the program, participating businesses give one Shop St. Joseph ticket free to shoppers and then another ticket for every $10 spent.

"We're very excited to kick off Shop St. Joseph, it's one of the best times of the year," said Natalie Hawn, president and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. 

According to a news release, the Shop Small Business Bonus was created to give an extra incentive for residents to do their holiday shopping at a local small business.

"Besides the obvious benefit of encouraging spending at small businesses, the Shop Small Business Bones makes another shopper a big winner," Hawn said.

A list of second-chance prizes will be available on the Chamber's webpage after the grand prize winner is announced.

A list of participating businesses can be found below. Merchants can still register to join the program.