Changes coming to Chamber Scrip
PLAINS – The Plains Business Association discussed the future of their Chamber Scrips program during their quarterly meeting last week as well as when they will meet going forward.
The group discussed what to do with the Chamber Scrip going forward and whether they still wanted to offer it. Some business association members felt the Chamber Scrip was a good asset for them; others, though, noted it required a lot of money to provide; they need to pay to maintain a safety deposit box for the funds as well as having someone able to manage the money and keep track of how much is available.
One suggestion as an alternative was to provide gift cards to local businesses. It was noted, though, they would not know where the recipients wanted to take the money. In the past, the association has done a gift certificate and paired it with a list of all the member businesses; this would allow them to know where they can spend the money. However, a gift certificate would raise the problem of knowing who to give it to and which business each person gets the card for. A universal card would also have its own issues.
“The problem is, in order to get a universal gift card that works along 10 different [stores], you all need to get on the same processor,” said Erika Lawyer.
Under the current Scrip system, awards to people, or Scrip given to employees, is a flat amount they are given to spend at businesses who are members of the association; they are not restricted to just spending it at an individual store or restaurant.
The current Chamber Scrip will be sunset at the end of July 2016. After that, business association’s member businesses will no longer accept the old Scrip and a new system will be devised and brought in later in the year.
The hope is to bring Scrip back to its original use as a Christmas loan of new money into being put into the community, which gets paid back after the first of the year. The association hopes to start a committee in January to look into the subject; it was noted that, starting in January, they would have approximately nine months to think about how to handle Scrip for the future.
The group was also polled on whether it might be easier for the business association to have a more solid schedule for when meetings are held in the future. Since they only meet once a quarter, it was felt saying they meet on the second or third Tuesday of the middle month, or another schedule, might be easier than other options.
Up to now, they have been working around the schedules of other events and finding a good, neutral night to hold meetings. This has been problematic, though, since sometimes events will overlap regardless and it makes it harder for some people to plan being at the meeting on a regular basis. The association plans to consider the options and discuss them further at a future meeting.
There was also an update on the association’s website. The site is coming along and will be completed soon. Lawyer noted they are trying to get everyone’s information online. If businesses still need to get their information set up, they need to reach out to the business association to provide it.
The business association is also asking for any suggestions for improvements to be sent to them.