Congratulations on having a reason to host a ribbon cutting!

Please keep the following in mind:

• Advanced notice: We recommend scheduling your Ribbon Cutting at least two weeks in advance, preferably longer, to ensure that the Alliance and County or City/Town can attend. It’s much easier for us to pick a week or month and then work with County or City/Town officials on a date, rather than you give us a concrete date and time because there are a lot of schedules we need to coordinate.
• Time: The best time to schedule a Ribbon Cutting is on a Monday-Friday between the hours of 9am-4pm This ensures that someone at the Alliance, as well as, County or Town/City officials can attend. Night time and weekend events are difficult because of other professional/personal commitments.
• Supplies: The Alliance will bring ceremonial scissors and large red ribbon for you to cut. People often ask if our scissors actually cut. And yes, they certainly do!
• Marketing & Promotion: The Alliance will assist you in promoting your Ribbon Cutting. Your event can be open to the public or small and intimate with only invited guest. That’s entirely up to you! They work well either way.

Preparing for your Ribbon Cutting:

• Think about who you would like to attend your Ribbon Cutting. You can keep it small or make it a big event. This includes inviting the local media. (A great way to do this is by writing and issuing a press release.) The Alliance  provides a Media Release Template and a list of media contacts
• Let the Alliance know if you want us to post it on our website as an Alliance event. This will ensure that we promote it via our website, email blasts and social media.
• If you chose to make this a grand event, be sure to share the event on social media (including creating a Facebook event that we will share), the homepage of your website and email blasts.
• The best spot to cut the ribbon is in front of a sign, door or wall that has your company name or logo. This makes for a great photo opportunity.
• Consider designating someone to take photos of the ceremony for you.
• Think about who you would like to be in the photo with you. The business owner or manager will be the person who actually holds the scissors and cuts the ribbon. County or Town/City officials and any State Legislators in attendance should also be invited to join you. You may also want to include the Alliance, family members, and staff. Please keep in mind that two people will have to hold the ends of the ribbon.
• You may want to have a short speech prepared to say to your guests after you cut the ribbon.
• Some businesses like to provide refreshments and a tour for their guests. This is not a requirement, but it’s a nice touch.