Putting $20 on the 20th into action

By Kenneth Boone (Contact) | Alex City Outlook

Published Thursday, June 18, 2009

I hope you’ve read about the “Spend $20 on the 20th” campaign that The Alexander City Outlook and The Dadeville Record are sponsoring this weekend.

The idea is simple: If each of us spent $20, it would add up quickly. In fact, if everyone in Tallapoosa County spent $20, it would mean more than $800,000 would change hands. That’s a home-grown stimulus package that we can do all by ourselves. Businesses will have more sales, city governments and schools would get more revenues, businesses would have more money to pay their bills to other businesses. A rising tide floats all boats.

Everybody will benefit by spending more money as long as:

n the money spent is cash, not credit which usually costs more in the long run and degrades the benefit to the buyer.

n all the money is spent in our county.

n this is additional money that wouldn’t have been spent anyway.

I’ve been preaching this for a week or so, and it occurred to me that it is time to put my money where my mouth is.

So I did.

Tallapoosa Publishers, Inc. has bonused each of its 34 employees $20, which will be given out on Friday. Here’s what I told our employees in a memo that will be handed out with the cash:

“It’s completely up to you where you spend it, and what you buy. But I’d like to ask you to look over the ads in our paper and consider shopping with one of our $20 on the 20th advertisers … they’re offering some great deals this Saturday. Also I’d ask you to spend the money on something that you wouldn’t have normally purchased – this is a gift, so give yourself something special.”

We will pay the bonus in cash: ten $2 bills.

I heard about a similar promotion somewhere, and the sudden influx of $2 bills in a town make a splash. One thing’s for sure, a $2 bill stands out.

TPI got 340 of them from Aliant bank on Wednesday and it looks like a lot of bills. So if you see a $2 bill this weekend, chances are it passed through the hands of Tallapoosa Publishers employee. And I bet those $2 bills will be circulating locally for weeks to come … which exactly the point.

In the benefit of the common good – our economy – I’m challenging other Tallapoosa County employers to do the same thing for their employees. Together we can make a big difference in our economy.

So on behalf of the Lake Martin economy, I’d like to humbly request that you spend an extra $20 in our county this Saturday, June 20th.

Kenneth Boone is the president and publisher of The Alexander City Outlook.

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