Lewiston-Auburn Businesses Offer Discounts to UMaine Students
Contact: Jonathan LaBonte, 581-1976, George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO — More than 400 UMaine students who live in Androscoggin County have been added to the list of college students eligible for “L-A Express” student discount shopping cards just in time for the holidays.
The University of Maine’s Corporate Affiliates program through the Maine Business School has partnered with the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce to promote the new initiative. Now in its second year, the L-A Express Student Discount Card program has attracted a growing number of Androscoggin County chamber members who are offering discounts of 5-50 percent to students attending six local colleges or medical schools in the Lewiston-Auburn area. Androscoggin County residents attending UMaine were added this fall.
The idea is to give students incentives to patronize and get to know local and downtown businesses, in addition to getting a break on shopping, says Jonathan LaBonte, assistant to the dean for external relations in the Maine Business School at UMaine, who oversees the program on campus.
The cards are distributed free to students by the UMaine Corporate Affiliates program. LaBonte says more than 400 cards and letters explaining the discount program were mailed in late October to UMaine students from Androscoggin County.
The card allows students to receive discounts at nearly 60 participating establishments listed in a program brochure and on a continually updated page at www.androscoggincounty.com. The businesses range from salons, restaurants and other shops to financial institutions, travel agencies and service providers.
“Given the Governor’s RealizeME initiative, we feel it is worthwhile to ensure students from Maine get exposed to their hometowns and its businesses while studying here,” said chamber President Chip Morrison and Dan Innis, dean of the College of Business, Public Policy and Health, in a recent letter to UMaine students.
For more information on the program, contact Jonathan LaBonte at (207) 581-1976 Jonathan.LaBonte@maine.edu or Jennifer Moulton of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce at (207) 783-2249 (Jenniferm@androscoggincounty.com).