HuB Fund to support local economy during Oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico

The HuB Fund, a 501c3 fund launched in partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, is working on a plan to help local businesses address concerns that the local economy will be affected by the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Although we don't know if the oil will hit our beaches in Sarasota, we still need to take action to help educate out-of-state tourists that our beaches are currently unaffected." says Rich Swier, co-founder of the HuB. "Our goal is to leverage social meda and our production studio to drive a positive message and hopefully this will help educate people but also give encouragement to our local merchants that working together we can get through this challenging time."

The HuB has launched similar campaigns to help the local economy including "Google Fiber" and "I Love Downtown". Both campaigns were funded by the HuB with the goal of bringing awareness to Sarasota, Florida and also helping local merchants survive during the economic downturn.

"Our approach to bringing a community together is unique," comments Joey Panek, head of Social Media at the HuB, "we build a campaign primarily on the web using social media and interact with the community through video and conversation. Once we have engaged the community, it typically takes on a life of its own, and we no longer control or drive it - the community does. Which is exactly what we want."

More information on the HuB Fund is available at http://www.hubsarasota.com. Donations are accepted online. Donations are tax-deductible.