Some local businesses think the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce's economic stimulus plan is right on the money.
Chamber members and their guests doubled their money at the chamber's Business Showcase on Thursday.
They paid $10 to receive $20 in $2 bills marked with the chamber's logo.
The chamber distributed a total of $8,000 in $2 bills designed to be spent locally.
"We got a lot of blank stares and 'Are you serious?'-type comments," said chamber President Brent Christensen.
The purpose of the "Pay the 2s Forward" economic stimulus plan is to demonstrate the impact chamber members have on the local economy, Christensen said.
"We really want this to be a shot in the arm of the economy," he said.
The point of the economic stimulus plan lies in reusing the bills, which demonstrates the power of localized resources and revenues, Wallace said.
Christensen said now the chamber will wait and see how long it takes the $2 bills to circulate throughout the local economy.
He said a dollar invested locally makes its rounds more than a dollar invested out of town, and it is more important than ever to invest locally.
"I'd venture to guess that 99 percent of people's purchases could be made in Alachua County if they just took a second and looked," he said.
At the showcase, local businesses offered special discounts to chamber members to keep the bills in circulation.
Scott Costello, publisher of Home: Living in the Heart of Florida magazine, offered advertising discounts to chamber members.
Glaeser Realty dished out $50 in $2 bills during hourly drawings at the showcase between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Realtor Mitch Glaeser said, "I don't know of any chamber in the country that is taking such an active role and trying to put a positive spin on some pretty tough economic times."
Wayne Wallace, director of UF's Career Resource Center, said the state of the national economy is mixed.
Issues such as the rising cost of energy and the implications of the declining housing market negatively affect consumer confidence, Wallace said.
"Here in Gainesville, we're in pretty good shape," he said.
