At a glance
“Our Campus Partner Program is important because it’s a win for everyone. The students love the flexibility it provides, the partners gain a marketing advantage, and the community wins because of the added tax revenue from increased sales,” explained Stephen Schnorr, executive director for Auxiliary Campus Enterprises and Services (ACES), the sponsor of the Campus Partner Program at Alfred State.
Despite the dreary weather, the Campus Partner businesses in the Alfred State College area have something to be extra cheerful about this spring: the program generated over $420,000 in sales for the partners during the spring semester which began in January – a 51 percent increase over last year’s sales.
“Our Campus Partner Program is important because it’s a win for everyone. The students love the flexibility it provides, the partners gain a marketing advantage, and the community wins because of the added tax revenue from increased sales,” explained Stephen Schnorr, executive director for Auxiliary Campus Enterprises and Services (ACES), the sponsor of the Campus Partner Program at Alfred State.
ACES actively recruits businesses for the program and also responds to student requests for their favorite off-campus businesses.
“At first, we thought that students would be only interested in Partners who offered a dining alternative, but we were surprised to learn that putting gas in their tank and personal services were high priorities too,” Schnorr said.
"The Campus Partner Program helps students spend their hard-earned money wisely. The wide variety of businesses allows students to interact with the community and have an easy way to meet up with friends in town,” said Joshua Altemoos, an information technology major from Buffalo.
Partners sign up for the program, and then they receive specialized equipment -- similar to a credit card reader -- that swipes the debit account loaded on student IDs. Students also use the debit account at all on-campus dining locations as well as at the campus bookstore.
Fourteen area businesses currently participate in the program: Alfred Pharmacy, The Collegiate, Fox’s Pizza Den, Hot Diggity Dogs, Hot Spott, Little Sicily, Terra Cotta, Uncle Alfred’s Sub Shop, B-B-Shenanigans, Short’s Deli (two locations in Wellsville), Pizza King, Applebee’s, and Surfside Tan.
About ACES
Auxiliary Campus Enterprises & Services (ACES) is a not for profit corporation that supports the mission of Alfred State College. ACES is located on campus and provides dining services, campus bookstore, transportation, vending, and laundry services to our customers.