Archive for Friday, May 1, 2009
Homegrown stimulus to pay off in Basalt
Town officials hope $45,000 investment will yield big sales
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Basalt — Basalt town government officials hope a $45,000 investment in a homegrown stimulus program will yield at least $450,000 in sales for shops, restaurants and service providers in these tough economic times.
Basalt Town Manager Bill Kane and Finance Director Judi Tippetts have worked on details of a mini-stimulus plan with the Basalt Chamber of Commerce and consultant Mary Kenyon for the past two weeks. The program entices consumers to spend and rewards them with gift certificates.
Here's how it will work: Shoppers will receive a "rewards card." They will get a stamp for any purchase greater than $10 at participating venues. The greater the sales amount, the more stamps they earn. Once they have racked up stamps for $300 worth of purchases, they can redeem the rewards card for a $30 gift certificate to spend at a participating business.
Consumers would spend a minimum of $450,000 to redeem all 1,500 certificates. The multiplier effect - some of the dollars earned in the community are spent again in the community - could boost the benefit to more than $2 million, Kane said.
Town Council members gave informal approval Tuesday night to the idea of using $45,000 in public funds to pay for 1,500 of the $30 gift certificates. Merchants would redeem the certificates at Town Hall. A formal vote to fund the program will be required in May.
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