Will you be ready when Gus comes to town? That is the question that many business owners and managers should be asking themselves.

The Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament bounces its way into Ironton for its ninth year on May 18-19. The event is family friendly fun that will attract at least a couple of thousand people to town.

Many of the city’s businesses can benefit from this event — if they promote themselves and speak to the audience.

The Friends of Ironton have worked countless hours to make this event happen and should be commended for their efforts. Unlike other events the grassroots civic organization puts on, the Macker isn’t much of a fundraiser. The goal is to simply provide a healthy activity and safe environment for area youth while also drawing visitors to our town.

Who knows? Someone may see a piece of furniture that they have to have. A mom or dad may snag a pair of shoes, gift or memento they couldn’t find elsewhere. Maybe someone from right here in Lawrence County will discover a business that offers a service they need but didn’t know was available locally.

The important thing is that the entire community starts to think about this now and get prepared for the event.

It doesn’t take a scoreboard to see that properly welcoming visitors and injecting money into our local economy would be a slamdunk.