Colorado restaurants say 'Fork the Recession'Colorado restaurants say 'Fork the Recession'

Ron Ruggless

DENVER Colo. The Colorado Restaurant Association has launched a statewide public awareness campaign to encourage dining in restaurants.

A$170,000 promotion, with the slogan “Fork the Recession … Feed the Recovery,” started this month and runs through May, with TV, radio, print, billboard and web ads. The campaign also allows restaurants across the state to offer their own “Fork the Recession” menu deals.

“Eating in a restaurant does more than just satisfy your hunger: It creates a huge multiplier effect that helps our local economy,” Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, a former restaurateur who founded the Wyncoop Brewing Co., said. “The money you spend allows students to pay for college, kids to earn some spending money busing tables, cooks to buy snow tires and dishwashers to pay their rent.”

Colorado’s restaurants employ about 234,000 people statewide and the industry contributes 14.7 percent of the state’s total sales tax revenue — the largest contribution of any industry sector.

Pete Meersman, the Colorado Restaurant Association’s president and chief executive, said, “We felt it was important to encourage people to make the connection between eating at a restaurant and stimulating our state’s economy.”

He added that Colorado restaurants serve 2 million meals a day and contribute $570 million in state and local taxes. “When Coloradans do not go out to eat, sales taxes are severely impacted, which means cutbacks in the services provided by our government,” Meersman said.

The CRA promotional program is being funded by supplier members and donations, the association said. The CRA represents more than 4,500 restaurants and more than 250 supplier members.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].