I am now the owner of one of those giant fake checks. The last time someone came around with a giant fake check it was a whiteboard and thus reusable, but apparently those are really expensive and it was more economical to just have a bunch of separate ones printed (also some people like to keep the giant check). They also had one for the pizza place across the street.
Tomorrow's schedule includes a photo op with the mayor and one of those giant fake checks. The shop is getting some grant money. The city's original plan was to do this as a loan program, but there was enough uncertainty at the time that every small business owner looked at that and said, "this looks like a trap," and stayed away from it.
Author of Typica software for coffee roasters.