Spring Break
It's All About The BerkShares
Small Town Switches To Local Currency System To Control Economy
Aaron Boyd
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News
DiSimone said the problem is that not enough local vendors participate, so the store has few avenues for getting the money back into circulation. Thus, the burden for keeping this fledgling movement alive rests on the local merchant who can't find a way to loose themselves of the currency. It translates to a direct 10 percent discount for their customers. This has caused many businesses to enact policies similar to the Co-op Market, while others only allow BerkShare purchases on certain days of the week.
It may be extra work for local businesses, but BerkShares are a big draw for the area.
Anita Diller, the Great Barrington branch manager for the Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, said people are finding new ways of spending BerkShare bucks. More recently she has had customers come in looking for larger sums of BerkShares for payments from car repairs to landscaping.
Ten minutes south of Great Barrington along Route 7 is Main St. in Sheffield. At the Mobil station an older man says he doesn't use BerkShare bucks and doesn't know anyone who does.
The Sheffield branch of Salisbury Bank was the first bank to accept the Schumacher Society's proposition. Branch Manager Nancy Missaggia has been working with the Schumacher Society and BerkShares, Inc. to promote the use of BerkShares throughout the region.
Missaggia stressed the need for circulation. She wants to make it clear that the BerkShare does not plan on competing with the dollar anytime soon; the 10 percent incentive program is enough. But with circulation there is no 10 percent hit for the merchants - the BerkShare it is passed on indefinitely, unless they return to the bank.
The banks are integral to the program. BerkShares are backed 90 percent on the dollar in BerkShares, Inc. bank accounts. The five banks involved, Berkshire Bank, Lee Bank, Lenox National Bank, The Pittsfield Co-op Bank and Salisbury Bank, treat BerkShare dollars like any other currency and exchange them against savings accounts under the BerkShares, Inc. name. The banks don't touch the money, says Missaggia; the banks gain nothing from the BerkShares, Inc. accounts.
It may be extra work for local businesses, but BerkShares are a big draw for the area.
Anita Diller, the Great Barrington branch manager for the Pittsfield Cooperative Bank, said people are finding new ways of spending BerkShare bucks. More recently she has had customers come in looking for larger sums of BerkShares for payments from car repairs to landscaping.
Ten minutes south of Great Barrington along Route 7 is Main St. in Sheffield. At the Mobil station an older man says he doesn't use BerkShare bucks and doesn't know anyone who does.
The Sheffield branch of Salisbury Bank was the first bank to accept the Schumacher Society's proposition. Branch Manager Nancy Missaggia has been working with the Schumacher Society and BerkShares, Inc. to promote the use of BerkShares throughout the region.
Missaggia stressed the need for circulation. She wants to make it clear that the BerkShare does not plan on competing with the dollar anytime soon; the 10 percent incentive program is enough. But with circulation there is no 10 percent hit for the merchants - the BerkShare it is passed on indefinitely, unless they return to the bank.
The banks are integral to the program. BerkShares are backed 90 percent on the dollar in BerkShares, Inc. bank accounts. The five banks involved, Berkshire Bank, Lee Bank, Lenox National Bank, The Pittsfield Co-op Bank and Salisbury Bank, treat BerkShare dollars like any other currency and exchange them against savings accounts under the BerkShares, Inc. name. The banks don't touch the money, says Missaggia; the banks gain nothing from the BerkShares, Inc. accounts.
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