JOHNSTOWN, Colo. — To help local businesses, the Town of Johnstown is giving each of its households a $20 gift certificate to use at various businesses in town.
The gift certificates, called Johnstown Cash, will be mailed to every household throughout April. It can be used at any business participating in the program in Johnstown. As of March 27, 38 businesses — including restaurants, beauty salons, hardware stores, coffee shops, health and wellness centers, grocery stores and more — were participating. The businesses will be reimbursed by the town for the certificates they collect from buyers.
"I don't even question for a second that over the next 30-45 days we're going to see a big bump in sales from people coming out here and trying new stuff," Jake Bachman, owner of Black Sheep Coffee & Crepes and Dominic's Pizza, said Saturday. "This is going to give the town and give the community just one more thing that they're going to be able to do and come down here and frequent our businesses."
The Town of Superior did something similar in December 2020.
Johnstown Mayor Gary Lebsack said this is a great way to encourage residents to shop locally.
"It's your neighbor. It's your friend. It's the people you do business with that are relying on this money to stay in business," he said.
The town has dedicated about $120,000 to fund the program. The funds are coming from the remainder of the $1 million the town had set aside last year to help local businesses stay open, Lebsack said.
Residents will have until Dec. 31, 2021, to spend the $20.
For more information about the program and a full list of participating businesses, visit the Johnstown Cash page on the town's website.