More than 15 businesses have joined together to promote Plattsmouth downtown as a tourism destination with $10,500 matching LB 840 grant monies.

Plattsmouth City Council approved the use of the funds for a seven-month advertising campaign aimed to bring residents from surrounding areas to Plattsmouth.

The campaign will target, Omaha, Bellevue, Nebraska City and communities in Cass County such as Louisville, Weeping Water, indicated LeRoy Bower, spokesman for the group.

The campaign will include print media, radio spots and flyers to be distributed in targeted areas.

Increasing gasoline prices and the closure of the Missouri River Bridge for repairs has local merchants even more vigilant about looking outside Plattsmouth borders for customers.

"Looking at Main Street downtown it kind of gets lonesome sometimes," Bower said. "Some of us merchants are wondering if it’s all worth it."

Each merchant will spend $700 toward the matching portion of the grant, giving the group more than $20,500 to work with. Plattsmouth Main Street Association (PMSA) will act as the administrator for the grant funds.

"Main Street Association is the vehicle to hold the money and make sure it goes where it is supposed to go," Bower said.

Its participation in the grant process will hopefully draw new members to the PMSA he said.

"Main Street Association, in the last few years, hasn’t been as active as it should have been," Bower said. "Main Street Association needs to stir memberships. When people look at what the Main Street Association did, it has got to help membership next time around."

Although many of the businesses are members of the PMSA, participation in the promotion is not limited to association members, "We’re not excluding anybody," he said.

Bower said interest in the project has grown over time. "When I started doing this, it was smaller than what it has become. I didn’t realize there would be so much interest."

Advertising will promote downtown Plattsmouth as a tourism destination. Each participating sponsor will have its name listed in the advertising.

Advertising will promote downtown Plattsmouth as a tourism destination. Each participating sponsor will have its name listed in the advertising.

"We want to show people what businesses are available," Bower said.

Councilwoman Ruth Wassinger asked Bower how merchants would measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

"We’ve asked the to keep track. Find out where your customers are coming from," Bower said. "We do plant to keep track of it."

John O’Brien, co-owner of Seams to Be Quilt Shop with his wife Terry, added that Main Street is a gold mine with wonderful business.

"It think it would be a shame not to go after that gold mine we are sitting on," he said.

Wassinger asked if downtown merchants had discussed coordinating their open business hours. "A lot of business close early in Plattsmouth on Saturday and many are closed on Sunday," she noted.

O’Brien said the quilt shop stays open until 5 p.m. both weekend days. "Some businesses are open on Saturday and Sunday, but it (coordinating hours) is certainly something we could discuss" he said.