The A-Town Power Card is a discount card that can be used at 23 local businesses. Students Jonathan Rutman and Adam Epstein began finding businesses to participate 10 days before classes started.

Athens residents and Ohio University students can arm themselves with a different kind of plastic - the A-Town Power Card.

Developed by OU seniors Jonathan Rutman and Adam Epstein, the card offers discounts to customers when they visit 23 businesses in Athens.

"The reason we liked the card is it's unique in the fact that it benefits everyone involved," Rutman said. "The students who purchase the card are able to go to Uptown businesses and get discounts."

He said merchants on the cards could get more business without the advertising fee.

"The cool thing is you can use the card as many times as you want. It's not a punchcard," Rutman said. "That's a really big selling point."

The Hillell foundation, the University Programming Council and Alpha Omicron Pi sorority are selling the cards. Businesses selling the cards are Brenen's Coffee Cafe, 38 S. Court St.; Mountain Leather and General Store, 25 S. Court St.; and D.P. Dough, 374 Richland Ave.

Brett Shraiar, owner of D.P. Dough, said when someone buys a calzone, they get a free beverage by using the card. Brenen's offers a half-price desert with the purchase of a sandwich with the card.

There are discounts for clothing as well as food. The Inlet at 5ive, 5 N. Court St., is offering a 10 percent discount with the card.

"It generates business," said Julie Knorr, Inlet at 5ive store manager. "It's like advertising. It gets people to come into your store."

Mountain Leather offers 15 percent off any purchase of non-sale items that cost more than $15.

The card did not appear on the streets of Athens overnight.

After some planning, the two students came to Athens about 10 days before classes and started to speak with business owners about the card, Rutman said.

Working with the owners, Rutman and Epstein designed discounts that were the most beneficial to the businesses. Then, Rutman said, with the discounts in hand, they asked for the help of Justin Torner, a graphics art student.

Torner designed the front of the card and helped lay out the discounts on the back.

"That was a huge process. It looks simple, but it was a [big] undertaking," Rutman said.

It was important for the card to be high quality, he said. The pair sent the information electronically to a card-making company in Portland, Ore. The cards were produced and sent back to Athens for distribution.