A new downtown POGO card has made its way to the streets of downtown Lincoln, and Tim Gemar, founder of POGO, is looking forward to all the benefits the card can offer downtown shoppers and businesses.

“We’re pretty excited; it’s a new niche for us. We haven’t sectioned out any part of town yet, so it’s exciting to see what comes of it,” he said.

The new card features nearly 100 downtown businesses, costs only $10 and will be good through December 31st, 2012.

POGO cards have discounts for a variety of businesses all within the convenience of a single card. The cards are used for fund raising by over 200 groups ranging from high school organizations such as marching bands, athletics, select university groups, fraternities and sororities.

“One of the benefits of the card is helping out the group that’s trying to sell them, while getting value out of the card as well,” Gemar said.

POGO, which stands for “Purchase One Get One,” has made cards for both the Lincoln and Omaha markets. When POGO chose to create a card that was strictly for downtown Lincoln, Gemar said the downtown businesses were ecstatic.

“They’ve known about POGO for years, so they were excited to find out that we were going to focus on only the downtown businesses.”

Also excited about partnering with POGO was Todd Ogden, Marketing Director of the Downtown Lincoln Association (DLA).

“DLA is thrilled to have a fun and rewarding discount card that will attract people downtown, raising awareness of the area’s several unique business offerings,” Ogden said.

Starting in 1993, Gemar created the cards as free-giveaways for his insurance and investment clients when he worked as a financial advisor. Even though they weren’t for sale, more and more people kept asking if they could purchase one and soon, POGO was created.

Shoppers can get the cards at the POGO office in southwest Lincoln near Wilderness Ridge at 8540 Executive Woods Drive. To be on a list for future announcements concerning new cards or vendors, shoppers can text “POGO” to 90210.

Gemar said they hope to release a separate golf POGO card within the next year that would include courses in several Midwest states including Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.

For fundraising and other information, visit POGO’s website and Facebook page.

Here are just a few highlights from the Downtown POGO:

Fast Food
C. Berry’s- Buy a sandwich and drink, get a sandwich FREE
Red Mango- 20% off your purchase

Casual Dining
Capital City Grill- $5 off a purchase of $20 or more
Jack’s Bar & Grill- FREE entrée with purchase of one entrée and two drinks

Retail
Footloose & Fancy- $10 off a regular-priced purchase of $75 or more
Sartor Hamann- $100 off any purchase of $500 or more

Salt Dogs Baseball
Buy one ticket, get one FREE!

For the complete listing of deals and discounts, view the entire Downtown POGO card here.