BerkShares User and Business Survey Summary

***if there is no number or percentage after an entry this means that 1 person responded in that way***

BerkShares User Questionnaires

Total number received as of 10/15:  34

How would a decrease in the 10% discount rate affect your use of BerkShares?

• Increase

• Would use more because wouldn’t feel as if hurting the business

• Decrease – 62%

• Wouldn’t use without discount
• Would probably receive less from customers so would in turn use less as a consumer
• 2 respondents said they view the 10% discount as a reward for the extra effort entailed in using BerkShares
• would return to using credit card and receiving mileage for purchases

• No effect – 29%
• Definitely an incentive, but would likely continue to use them as before

Would your BerkShares use increase if an ATM machine dispensing BerkShares was placed in Great Barrington?

• Yes – 32%
• If no cost

• No – 41%

• Maybe – 15%

• Don’t know

If you could open a separate BerkShares account with a debit card, would it increase your use?

• Yes – 35%
• If no cost

• No – 47%

• Maybe – 9%
• Depends upon the number of businesses that will accept this form of payment
• If I was earning BerkShares

• Don’t know

What are your primary reasons for using BerkShares?

• support local business – 88%
• bills look and feel great – 50%
• 10% exchange rate – 85%
• 6 of these persons emphasized this as the primary reason
• given as a gift
• earned them in my business
• community pride – 56%
• money spent here stays here to create new jobs – 65%
• honoring of local heroes and artists – 21%
• environmental concerns – 32%
• social concerns – 50%
• small is beautiful – 41%
• other – increase consciousness of local community, educational, political

What do you use BerkShares for?

• Food – 94%
• Clothing – 26%
• Entertainment – 44%
• Services – 35%
• Furniture – 9%
• Hardware – 15%
• Other
• Toys(6%), gifts(6%), photo development, eyeglasses, household items, electronics(6%), plant/garden(9%)

What additional businesses or business types would you like to see added to the BerkShares family?

• Utility companies – 4 people
• Gas stations – 4 people
• More restaurants – 3 people
• Hardware stores – 2 people
• Major grocery stores – 3 people
• Staples
• Local pharmacy
• Shoe stores
• Arcadian shop
• Stock brokers
• Loan officers
• Bars
• SoCo Creamery
• Berkshire Brewery
• Daily Bread
• Car services
• Professional services-eye exams, dentist
• Practical services-painters, plumbers, etc.
• Businesses in north of the county
• Pittsfield Health Center, Flynn’s pharmacy, Palmer’s Variety Store, optician on William St, massage therapist on Ontario St, shoe repair shop, tailor shop, Indian restaurant, Bagels Too, Rainbow Dist. (water) in Lanesboro, Wild Oats in Williamstown, Berkshire Museum

How do you determine if BerkShares will be accepted at a business?

• Sign in window – 71%
• Printed list of vendors at banks – 38%
• Ads in paper – 12%
• BerkShares website – 12%
• Ask at cash register – 76%
• Word of mouth – 21%
• Other – 0%

Have you experienced press coverage for BerkShares?

• Yes – 56%
• Newspaper – 6 people
• Web – 2 people
• TV
• New York Times

• No – 41%
• But mom saw in London Times and brother heard about it on radio in the U.K.

Do you have enough information to answer the question, “Why is your town issuing its own currency?

• Yes – 74%

• No – 6%

• Mostly – 9%
• Not sure about legality

• N/A – 6%

What would encourage you to use more BerkShares?

• ATM – 5 people
• Cover more basic needs (gas, utilities, mortgage) – 4 people
• Easier to exchange – 5 people
• Encourage more visible “We Accept BerkShares” signs
• More businesses in north county
• BerkShares bank account – 2 people
• Keep discount – 3 people
• More advertising – 2 people
• More BerkShares representatives and person-to-person interaction
• No discount – feel guilty using and don’t use at all now because of this.  In order for the program to really succeed people need to be using them for the reasons other than the discount
• More businesses accepting – 14 people or 41%
• Chains accepting
• Sometimes feel guilty about saddling merchant with 10%

Additional comments or suggestions on how to make the program better for the community.

• More community outreach so people understand the concept behind using BerkShares – 2 people
• Concern with the amount of work it creates for the banks
• Vendor restrictions decrease use – i.e. Guido’s no weekend policy
• Staff person ‘on the ground’ – able to create dialogue, hold periodic meetings, help people realize their value to the local economy

BerkShares Business Questionnaires

Total number received as of 10/10:  47

How many BerkShares does your business take in each week?

• None – 21% of businesses
• In Columbia County
• Much business in hill towns, NY, and CT

• $1-$50 – 19% of businesses
• most of these businesses recirculate all and exchange none

• 1 of these businesses have half recirculation half exchange
  
• $50-$99 – no businesses
  
• $100-$200 – 30% of businesses
• 50% of these businesses recirculate all and exchange none

• 3% recirculation and exchange the rest
• recirculate $50-$75 and exchange the rest
• recirculate $10 and exchange $90
• recirculate $40 and exchange $60
• recirculate $65 and exchange the rest
• take in average of $100/week, but varies greatly – recirculate $500 every 2 weeks with no exchange

• exchange all

• $201-$300 – 6% of businesses
• recirculate all

• 2 of these businesses exchange all
• 1 of these stated a range of $0-$300 per week

• Others
• ~$5,000 since start – no exchange, recirculate all plus much more
• $3,250 – recirculate $300 exchange $2,950
• $623 since start – recirculate all
• a lot – exchange all
• unknown $ amount – exchange all
• unknown $ amount – recirculate all

Do you accept any BerkShares in pay?

• Yes – 21%

• No – 60%

Would reducing the 10% exchange rate affect your BerkShares acceptance policy and participation or have no effect?

• No effect – 72%
• wouldn’t affect because they are able to recirculate everything
• 2 mentioned that while it wouldn’t affect them they believe other businesses would be more likely to sign up

•  Would like to see it reduced – 25%
• want to be part of the program, but can’t afford 10% loss
• too many people view this as a discount program and if this trend isn’t reversed more businesses will drop out and fewer will enroll making BerkShares a passing trend
• would suggest using BerkShares to customers more often
• 10% is a big chunk of actual profit and feel guilty recirculating and passing this 10% loss onto another business
• can’t reuse and 10% loss is significant
• lower rate would help with low gross items
• okay for me, but would like to see reduced b/c it is a burden to some other businesses

Would you be interested in a separate BerkShares checking account enabling you to pay bills?

• Yes – 30%
• But not necessary

• No – 53%
• Most vendors don’t accept BerkShares
• Don’t receive enough

• Maybe – 4%

• Don’t know – 4%

Would the checking account option increase the number of BerkShares you are able to recirculate?

• Yes – 19%

• No – 45%
• No, it would just make tracking payments easier
• Don’t receive enough

• Maybe – 13%
• 2 of these businesses stated that it would depend upon who accepts them

Would you be supportive of a BerkShares debit card allowing customers to pay you and you to pay other vendors electronically?

• Yes – 32%
• If no fee

• No – 51%
• Could be complicated for community and bookkeepers

• Maybe – 9%
• Easier not to have to make change
• Depend upon extra costs to handle this technology
• Not sure if this would help, but if good for others than okay

• Don’t know

Do you feel accepting Berkshares has:

• Increased business – 13%

• Not affected business – 74%
• None received
• Only 1 transaction
• Company members mainly out of state
• Only increased during first month
• No, but increase good will

• Don’t know
• But customers happy to use them

• Negatively affected business

Do you encourage customers to use BerkShares?

• Yes – 51%
• 6 of these businesses do so through signage
• Info in waiting room

• No – 28%
• But do place in catalog and on web

• Sometimes – 6%
• But do post signs

Do you sense reluctance on the part of customers to use BerkShares?

• Yes – 30%
• Especially credit card users
• Can’t spend in enough places
• Inconvenient
• Frustration about store restrictions
• Don’t want to cause financial hardship to receiver
• Don’t seem to get it or care

• No – 55%
• 3 businesses said this is b/c most don’t know about them or forget about them
• customers love to have places to spend them

Do you view BerkShares as a:

• long-term unique feature of the Berkshire economy – 53%
• discount program to attract more business – 28%
• way to reward loyal customers – 26%
• step to building a sustainable economy – 47%
• tool that emphasizes the importance of community – 70%
• program that increases local awareness – 66%
• economic experiment – 38%
• passing trend – 15%
• at risk of being so

Other comments:

• consumers can support the local economy with U.S. dollars as well
• most people don’t use them or think about it, BerkShares aren’t a factor in the economy
• hardest for customers with little money b/c they don’t have the extra to tie up in BerkShares
• bookkeeping nightmare – many unexpected difficulties that people at the Community Center meeting couldn’t answer
• BerkShares does not simplify my life

What additional businesses would you like to see added to the BerkShares family?

• Utilities – 7 businesses
• National Grid, Berkshire Gas
• Rent – 2 businesses
• Housing – mortgage/home equity payments – 2 businesses
• Gas – 9 businesses
• Shipping/transport
• Local office supply – 2 businesses
• Staples
• Big Y – 3 businesses
• Price Chopper – 4 businesses
• MacDonald’s
• Berkshire Eagle – 2 businesses
• Shopper’s Guide
• Sheffield businesses
• Insurance companies
• More banks – 2 businesses
• TD Bank North
• Drug stores
• Barrington Brewery
• Web designers
• Advertisers – 2 businesses
• Bizen
• Auto repair/dealers
• Town of GB (partial tax payments)
• Hawthorne Valley Farm Store
• Accountants
• Lawyers
• Berry Farm, Chatham, NY
• Chatham Business Alliance
• Hardward stores
• More local merchants – 2 businesses
• Food
• Local produce farms who wholesale
• More family owned Pittsfield businesses
• Contractors, Pittsfield Lawn and Garden, Avant Garde Hair Designs
• Richmond Networx
• Berkshire Mountain Spring Water

Do you have enough information to answer customers who as, “Why is this town issuing its own currency?”

• Yes – 74%
• But they don’t ask – 2
• Yes, but now the lack of a full circle of distribution has left me less well spoken

• No – 9%

• Somewhat
• Feel preachy when talking, a small card with talking points would be helpful

• They don’t ask – 4%

Additional comments and suggestions:

• ATM/debit cards/checks – 4 businesses
• More banks – 2 businesses
• Remove exchange rate – 4 businesses
• Trying to recirculate, but difficult-merchants accept for retail, but not wholesale, tried to use for advertising, but couldn’t
• Not comfortable using them and giving other businesses possible 10% loss, especially knowing some people feel pressured into using them (i.e. persons in charge saying in interviews “I won’t shop where they don’t accept them”
• Not uniting the community if one minority in the community is bearing all the weight
• Decrease penalty for depositing in bank
• Would like to see more traffic as a result of BerkShares and that hasn’t happened
• Easier to convert to cash
• Encourage banks to actively sell Berkshares
• More places to spend – 2 businesses
• Easier to trade in – reciprocity with other local currencies
• Pin for business staff to wear
• Need to settle in the community more before expanding into ATM, checking
• Kinks in bookkeeping and accounting worked out
• Bills don’t always fit in standard cashier drawers
• Emphasis 10% discount
• Have Berkshire record survey local townspeople about knowledge and use of BerkShares as it seems like a program for the wealth
• More banks
• Bring awareness of money elsewhere – Chatham is issuing local money to offset downtown renovation project – awareness of BerkShares would avoid the spread of temporary money being issued for all sorts of promotional purposes
• Enhance graphics in promotional materials
• New, bolder “We Accept BerkShares” sign
• Mini crash-course about BerkShares message at Simon’s Rock, Monument, etc
• Outside marketing firm to take things to the next level
• Needs to be easier to recirculate

Both businesses and consumers

What local hero would you like to see on a 100 note BerkShare?

• Elizabeth Freeman “Mum Bett” – 7 people
• William Stanley – 2 people
• Jane Fitzpatrick
• Congressman Conti
• Musical figure Serge Koussevitsky
• Johnny Appleseed
• General Knox
• Perez Hamlin
• Richard Stanley
• James Taylor
• Linda Norris
• Danny Tresp
• Shay’s Rebellion
• Catherine Sedgwick
• The farmer
• Chief Konkapot
• Elihu Burritt
• Seiji Ozawa
• A hero of social justice
• Have a picture of Monument Mountain
• I would avoid it – 2 persons said this, 1 with the reason that many businesses don’t have change