BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – The Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce launched a new way to encourage local gift-giving with their BG Bucks program.
It’s an online gift certificate program in which you buy it online and email it afterward. Once received, the BG Bucks can be used at any of the participating businesses by printing out the certificate or showing the QR code.
There are over 20 merchants already signed up for BG Bucks. They vary from restaurants to shops to fitness places. Any business that is a member of the Bowling Green Area Chamber can sign up for free.
One of the first ones to do so was Mill House Cafe.
“Being a small business owner and a local business owner, there are days that it can be a struggle just to keep a business open, so support your local business, especially through the holiday seasons and through the times after you’ve spent all of your money and you don’t want to spend any more money,” said Anthony Facello, Founder and Co-Owner of Mill House Cafe. “Those are times when you need to still support your local businesses to help keep the doors open.”
Facello says Mill House is thrilled to be part of the Bowling Green Chamber and community. He believes BG Bucks is going to be a great new program for the area.
Dawn Johnson, Vice President of Partnership Services at the Chamber, was inspired to get the program up and running after using it in her previous role at a Michigan chamber.
She said shopping locally is crucial to supporting the community, with about 85% of the small businesses being partners with the Chamber.
“They rely on local dollars; they rely on local support, so infusing this cash into their business and the opportunity for them to get different kinds of customers and the customer base is different, helps them grow, which ultimately obviously helps our community grow.”
To buy one or to sign your business up, go to bgchamber.com, click on the BG Bucks Gift Certificate tab and fill out a few pieces of information.
BG Bucks expire a year after purchase. Since the program is brand new, Johnson said to be patient while they continue to improve and grow it.
A full list of the participating merchants can be found here.
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