Cory Shea, Franklin’s Director of Art, Culture, and the Creative economy, confessed to being “new” to the Think Franklin First gift card program that was launched back in 2020 as a lifeline for local businesses hurt by lockdowns and changing shopping patterns.
She was speaking to an audience of about 20 businesspeople at a relaunch event hosted at Dean Bank on Main Street Wednesday evening. And while she may not have been present at the creation of the gift card program, she has now adopted it as her own, is brimming with enthusiasm, and transmitted much of that to those present.
The program is sponsored by Dean Bank and the Town but neither has any role in its financial aspects. Those details are handled by Swipe It, a national gift card and loyalty program company that happens to be based in Franklin. The company provides its services without a fee. Also chipping in is Franklin-based Random Smile Project which provides the corporate entity through which money is passed.
The remarkable thing about the program, Shea emphasized, is that there are no fees. Money passes through”intact” with consumers and companies ending up with a cash-like experience at the end.
Those in attendance who had worked with the program previously agreed that it had lost momentum and many organizations hadn’t instructed their employees in how to accept the cards.
That is something Shea hopes to change through new outreach material and publicity to restore the program’s momentum and prestige…
More to come on that subject. In the meantime, you can learn about the program here.