ALPENA — The Fall Downtown Dollars promotion launched by the Alpena Downtown Development Authority came to a close Friday, as $5,000 in bonus dollars have been issued as part of the promotion that added free bonus dollars to purchases of the downtown gift certificates.

The promotion kicked off Oct. 1 and was scheduled to run through the end of the year or until $5,000 total of bonus dollars had been issued. Over the course of the promotion, more than $20,000 Downtown Dollars were sold, which will be spent at downtown stores, restaurants, hair salons, and other businesses that accept the gift certificates.

“We created the promotion to encourage people to continue shopping, dining, and supporting downtown over the fall and winter months, as it has been a difficult and uncertain year for many businesses,” said DDA Executive Director Anne Gentry. “We have already seen people using the certificates throughout the downtown, which is great to see.”

More than 60 individuals and two businesses took advantage of the promotion and received bonus dollars to spend throughout the downtown.

Alpena Community College was one business that purchased Downtown Dollars through the promotion to distribute to employees.

“ACC purchased the Downtown Dollars because we want to support our community and thought it would be a wonderful way to reward our employees since we could not have our traditional staff recognition event,” said ACC President Don MacMaster. “Human Resources Director Carolyn Daoust came up with the idea. It turned out to be a hit with staff.”

Even though the opportunity to receive bonus dollars with your purchase is over, Downtown Dollars are available to purchase year-round at the DDA Office (124 E. Chisholm St.), Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce (235 W. Chisholm St.), or Bolenz Jewelry (131 W. Chisholm St.).

Downtown Dollars are paper gift certificates that can be used at 40 downtown businesses, including stores, restaurants, hair salons, and more.

To view a full list of businesses that accept Downtown Dollars and to learn more about the program, please visit https://www.downtownalpenami.com/downtown-dollars.html.