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Glerin develops Matching Gift Card system that gets over $2.7M into 2 rural Virginia communities

Web Development Design
image of voucher code from Shop Local VGA

Creative Use of CARES Funding For COVID-19 Economic Recovery

ShopLocalVGA.com, the online marketplace for Virginia's Growth Alliance economic development region, has provided the platform for five Matching Gift Card Program sales that have gotten $2,706,000 to date into the hands of 266 small business owners and 7,620 shoppers in two rural Virginia counties over the past several months.

Halifax, Virginia, based web and marketing strategy firm Glerin Business Resources originally developed the site in 2014 and expanded it pro bono during COVID to include gift card capability after Tina Morgan, Tourism Director for Mecklenburg County, inquired about running a matching program through the site.

Businesses received the full face value of each $40 gift card sold while matching funds allowed shoppers to pay only $20 for a $40 card. Local shoppers were able to get a 50% discount on a wide range of products and services ranging from child care, car repairs, dentistry, and fuel oil, to shopping and restaurants.

Matching funds, some of which came from the CARES Act, were provided by the Virginia counties of Mecklenburg and Isle of Wight, and their local Chambers of Commerce: Clarksville Lake Country, Town of South Hill, Town of Chase City, and Isle of Wight.

Mecklenburg County had $22,000 in matching funds for their first sale in May, which sold out in less than 2 hours. Seeing a winner on their hands, the County decided to do two more ambitious sales: $100,000 matching in September and $380,000 matching in November.

Isle of Wight had $100,000 in matching funds in a November sale that sold out in less than 1.5 hours. They ran another sale in December with $300,000 matching, seeing sales of $75,020 in just the first 15 minutes.

Working with VGA’s Executive Directory, Jeff Reed, Glerin had initially developed the marketplace in a project that was funded by a grant from Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Glerin provided the Gift Card system development pro bono.

The marketplace already had the capability for shoppers to buy from multiple vendors in a single transaction, with payments automatically split between vendors. The new Gift Card capability includes generation of a unique serial number for each gift card sold. Each serial number is embedded in a digital gift certificate that is delivered via email.

The Matching Gift Card Program had such a broad impact on Mecklenburg County's economy, Clarksville Lake Country Chamber of Commerce recently named Morgan their 2020 Citizen of the Year.

Lisa Kipps-Brown, founder of Glerin, remarked “In an interesting twist, Tina was a Glerin employee during initial development of the marketplace, giving her knowledge of the system and insight into its potential applications. The Matching Gift Card Program illustrates how small businesses, local communities, and state agencies can successfully work together to reimagine supporting local businesses in unique ways that amplify that support.”

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Crowdfunded NASCAR Team Pays For Veteran's Stem Ce...
 

Sample Project Visuals

11-11
Websites
11-11
Web design & development for 11/11 Veteran Project. Our CEO is their Director of Strategy & uses their national platform and extensive network to help clients reach strategic business goals while supporting organizations that provide access to resources for veterans and their families.
print
Print Design
print
This 20-page 5-year Progress Report for a Tourism Department is printed on high quality gloss paper of magazine quality. Presenting details of progress made in an easy-to-digest manner helps Tourism stay accountable to funding sources.
edgewood website
websites
edgewood website
Web design and development for Edgewood Townhomes and Villas, a unique luxury townhome community in Southern Virginia. They needed a modern, mobile friendly site to help display the vast array of options available to homeowners, as well as highlight available properties.
Mother Cluckers
websites
Mother Cluckers
Mother Cluckers is a unique home decor and interior design shop located in an historic downtown. They sell home luxuries, unique apparel, and gifts in their brick & mortar as well as online via Square. We developed the website, set up their ecommerce system on Square, and integrated it with their website.
lisa
websites
lisa
Web development for author, business strategist, speaker, and podcaster Lisa Kipps-Brown, our CEO.
Colin
Websites
Colin
Website design and marketing automation services for NASCAR driver Colin Garrett.
illustration
Illustration and Animation
illustration
A tourism office wished for some type of animation that would let visitors "drive" around the county to discover things to do. Using animation that requires no special browser plugins, illustrator Erin Kipps Brown came up with a concept to treat the project like a theme park map.
VGA
websites
VGA
Economic development website design for Virginia's Growth Alliance, a region that covers 10 counties.
south hill
rebranding & website
south hill
Town of South Hill, Virginia, rebranding and web design.
Westfield brand
Branding
Westfield brand
New branding identity for The Downtown Westfield Corporation, the management entity of the Special Improvement District of Westfield, NJ. Main Street New Jersey awarded DWC a grant to work with Glerin on the rebranding and marketing strategy for Downtown Westfield.
social
Social Media
social
When we were invited by Virginia's Department of Housing and Community Development to speak about marketing to Virginia Main Street Community directors from across the state, we needed something helpful to give them to take back to the office. Our Quicky Guide to Social Media ended up being quite a hit! This poster is different from anything we've ever seen: It has dry erase blocks to let the user jot notes for planning their social media. The poster is 11"x17" - large enough to accommodate the dry erase blocks but small enough to not take up too much of the user's office wall.
vineland website
websites
vineland website
Web design and development for Vineland Downtown Improvement District / Main Street Vineland, NJ. Part of a project awarded to VDID through a Branding & Digital Design Grant from Main Street New Jersey.
Branding
Branding
Branding
New branding identity for Stand Up For Salem (New Jersey), a nonprofit that stimulates business opportunity, historic preservation and community growth through grassroots community development.
print
Print Design
print
This magazine won an Award of Merit for Communication from the Southern Economic Development Council. Virginia's Growth Alliance is geographically the largest economic development region in Virginia. They provide a printed quarterly quality of life magazine to prospects; the magazine is printed on glossy paper that is of the quality you would find on a magazine rack. A low-res version is also available for download on their website and for distribution on usb's.
fact sheets
Fact Sheets
fact sheets
As a part of the Halifax County IDA rebranding project, the organization needed a one-sheet data flyer for prospects. The piece is designed to present a good bit of data in a condensed format that provides a quick overview of the county, and integrated design elements extend the new branding identity.
vineland branding
Branding
vineland branding
New branding identity for Main Street Vineland, NJ / Downtown Vineland Improvement District, a group that promotes, enhances and revitalizes historic Landis Avenue as a thriving commercial district and community-gathering place for shoppers, residents and visitors. Part of a project awarded to VDID through a Branding & Digital Design Grant from Main Street New Jersey.

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