SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A new partnership between the City of Scranton and a national food-delivery service is underway. This partnership will benefit local businesses by helping them expand.
DoorDash is a national delivery service that is partnering with the city of Scranton to support local mom-and-pop businesses.
The announcement to participate in DoorDash's Accelerator for Local Businesses program was made on Tuesday by Mayor Paige Cognetti's office.
The six-week program connects businesses in Scranton with others from Providence, Rhode Island, to San Francisco, California, and many major cities in between.
The program includes one-on-one mentoring sessions with other business owners on the company's platform, as well as in-person and virtual training to improve menus and operations, and a business storefront on DoorDash's website.
Business owners who apply will also receive $5,000 in DoorDash marketing credits to promote their campaigns.
"We've been open 32 years, and people still, when we post stuff on Facebook, they'll be like 'Oh, when did this place open up?' It's not a huge city, but it's a big enough city that people still don't realize we've been open this long," Sammy Parlo-Piano, co-owner of The Salad Shoppe, commented.
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Piano tells 28/22 News that Samario's in Scranton, which the family also owns, is DoorDash's number one stop for food deliveries, which is not a chain restaurant.
"We get a lot of business through DoorDash. We don't personally deliver; to have that where people are recognizing us and coming to get it, that just makes everything so much better. Especially now with this partnership," Piano expressed.
"Food is a huge part of our culture here in Scranton, and food businesses are a real anchor here for our economy. When DoorDash partnered with the city and the University of Scranton's small business development center, we said absolutely," Mayor Cognetti stated.
Comparatively, Scranton is smaller than major U.S. Cities like Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
Piano says his family's business has been using DoorDash since 2019. The delivery service was a big reason they were able to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fees are high, Piano says, but it is a small price to pay for the amount of business they have received.
"It's hard to swallow a good percentage coming out of every order that comes in, but at the end of the day, after probably six months of having DoorDash, we realized how valuable it is," expressed Piano.
Business owners in Scranton have until the end of September to apply for the cohort.
