BATHURST Regional Council will on Wednesday launch a new “buy local” gift card designed to keep money in the city.
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The gift card will be launched during the annual Mayoral Business Leaders’ Lunch at Rydges Mount Panorama.
The new card, a council initiative, will work the same as traditional gift cards, but credits may only be redeemed at Bathurst businesses.
Council has spent the past few months signing local businesses to the program, particularly targeting the retail, service and hospitality sectors.
Information kits sent to prospective participants said any business with an EFTPOS machine could join the program.
“The Bathurst Buy Local Gift Card is an EFTPOS-based system aimed at keeping money within the local Bathurst community,” the flyers state.
“The Bathurst Buy Local Gift Card works like any other card or voucher based system, the only difference is that the money can only be spent in Bathurst at participating stores.
“When a customer purchases a gift card they decide how much money to load onto the card and this money can then be used by the card holder to purchase goods in any participating store within Bathurst.”
Mayor Gary Rush yesterday said the annual business leaders’ lunch was an opportunity for council to engage with the local business community as part of its role in supporting and creating local business opportunities.
He welcomed the Bathurst Buy Local Gift Card as a creative way to encourage people to shop locally.
“This exciting new program will help deliver on our commitment to supporting local businesses in Bathurst,” he said.
“There has been a fantastic response to the program from local business owners.”
The new gift card will be available for purchase from a number of “load up stores” across Bathurst.