The byHaines Shop Local and Save program, a voucher incentive geared to increase spending at local businesses, will return for its second year on Nov. 1.
Organized by the Haines Chamber of Commerce, Haines Economic Development Corporation and Haines Borough, the program will distribute CARES Act funding to eligible residents in the form of vouchers for local businesses. If all goes as planned, the program will stimulate a minimum of $180,000 in sales at local businesses.
The Haines Borough Assembly unanimously voted in September to allocate $50,000 in CARES Act funds for this year’s program. Ten percent of that funding will go towards administrative costs. The rest will be distributed as vouchers.
An eligible shopper who spends $300 at participating businesses between Nov. 1 and Nov. 30 will receive two $50 vouchers for participating stores of their choice. (The vouchers can be for the same business or two different ones.) Vouchers will expire Dec. 31.
The program will max out at 450 participants. To receive vouchers, shoppers must upload their receipts on the Chamber or HEDC website after Nov. 1. An opt-in form for interested businesses can be filled out at https://www.haineschamber.org/by-haines.
Businesses will be reimbursed by the Chamber of Commerce on Dec. 2 for the cumulative value of the vouchers they dispense.
Last year, the borough funded two rounds of the program, first in October and again in November-December. Forty-four businesses participated.
The first round closed 13 days after residents spent more than $60,000 locally. The second round generated $160,000 of local sales in just a week.
Amy Kane, owner of The Bookstore, said the program “really helped” last year and that she’s excited it’s happening again. “It’s a great reminder for people to keep this town going,” Kane said.
Tracey Harmon, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, credited David Simmons, who was director of Haines Economic Development Corporation when he died in the December landslide, with much of the program’s success. “We were working on this program together up until the very last day,” Harmon said. “He made the program what it is.”