SHELBYVILLE, IL. — The Shelbyville Works! economic development group continues with their strategic marketing plan.  Earlier articles were about the newly developed website www.shelbyvilleillinois.net.             

That new website has a feature that encourages everyone who goes to the website to join a mailing list.  Simply by giving your first and last name and your e-mail address you join the list.  You immediately are sent an e-mail thanking you for joining and informing you that you will receive "all the late and breaking news" as it happens in our wonderful community.  You will also gain access to special promotional offers. The e-mail provides a download link to their first "Shop Shelbyville" electronic discount coupon book.  In the electronic coupon book there are the promised 10 special promotional offers at local businesses.  These are discounts which may be printed off and used at restaurants and other businesses.  The coupons may be used over and over because they are printed off your computer and may be printed as often as the coupon book holder desires.  There is no charge for the business owner.

Local businessman and community leader Tad Mayhall is on the steering committee of Shelbyville Works! and he explained the coupon book works towards two goals of that group.  Those goals are to Grow Businesses and Jobs and Improve the Shelbyville Shopping Experience. 

"Our goal with the coupon book is to emphasize our local businesses here and showcase items that may be purchased in this community as opposed to people going out of town to shop," said Mayhall.

Mayhall said he has heard many people say it is more expensive to shop here.  "That idea is easily combated by the price of gas, and with gas at $3.50 a gallon it becomes an expensive proposition when you are driving somewhere else to buy basically something you could have purchased here."

Mayhall also points out that by driving out of town to shop that person is paying taxes into another town's coffers.  He said a good example is the school tax that is being charged in Decatur.  With Shelbyville's schools having their tax referendum defeated, they are not collecting needed taxes for school improvements.

"That school tax is something we voted down here and yet many people are willing to go to Decatur and help them pay their school tax," Mayhall said.

The Longbranch Grill Restaurant is one of the businesses with a coupon in the new coupon book.  The coupon offers a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees and is valued at as much as $6.99.  Owner and operator of the Longbranch Grill, Carrie Smart, said she has had some of those coupons redeemed and she feels the “Shop Shelbyville” Initiative is good for local merchants.

"Anything that helps downtown is great," said Smart.  "A coupon that encourages folks to shop locally is wonderful for the merchants."

The Shelbyville Works! group also understands the urgent need for infrastructure improvements in the downtown area.  Now with the TIF (Tax Increment Financing) and Business District in place, every penny spent in those businesses within the districts builds funds in the city's treasury that the city can use for those much needed improvements.

Besides the coupon books, another idea from the Shelbyville Works! group is to write stories highlighting various local businesses.  The articles tell about the history of the business, how the owners got into the business, what is offered, and what they think is unique about their particular business.  These articles have been and will continue to be featured in the Shelbyville Daily Union. 

The articles will eventually be written by Shelbyville High School (SHS) students in a new class that will be taught by SHS Business Department instructor John Tynan.  Tynan will be offering a new business class in 2012 called "Entrepreneurship".  The goals for this new class will be to show the students the various businesses that exist in town and also help develop the next round of business owners here in Shelbyville.

"I believe this new class will get those students more involved in our community and help them understand how important their school is to our community," said Tynan.

He plans to have the students in his class select a local business and then have them talk to the owners to understand how that business and business model relates to the class.  He will then have them write a article about the business which will be published in the Daily Union.

"Those stories will shine a light on various businesses in Shelbyville, and also at the same time show the students possibilities of how they could start a business in town, and could alleviate the growing problem of students going off to college or trade school and then not returning to Shelbyville to live and work," Tynan said.

Tynan, Mayhall, and SHS teacher Greg Reynolds, who is the SHS Work Ethics and Welding Instructor, have worked with students at SHS before with the Festival of Lights and that experience was a definite win/win situation.  The students built wrought iron Christmas tree decorations that were sold to the general public with the proceeds used to purchase badly needed new welding equipment.

Mayhall and Tynan want the community to know the Shelbyville Works! group is behind the Shop Shelbyville Initiative and the group as a whole is continuing to gather momentum.

 "The coupons benefit our initiative, and also benefit the website as well as the Shelbyville merchants, and is just a great way to increase our business environment," said Mayhall.  "The main purpose of this goal is to let everybody who lives here know what we have here in town."