Michael Gordon's profiles of BerkShares businesses (see following) are
archived at the BerkShares website.

The BerkShares team announces the top ten reasons for using BerkShares, the local currency for the southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts. 

10.) They're better looking than federal dollars
9.) You can save 10% on all purchases
8.) You're helping to build a local economy
7.) Money spent here stays here
6.) They celebrate local heroes and artists
5.) You're supporting local businesses
4.) Small is beautiful
3.) They're homegrown
2.) They're revolutionary

And the number one reason you should use BerkShares...

1.) They're the coolest thing to happen in the southern Berkshires since Shay's Rebellion

The list will differ region by region, currency by currency, but the essential message remains the same—support your local currency by using it robustly!! 

BerkShares Team
P. O. Box 125
Great Barrington, MA 01230
www.berkshares.org
(413) 528-1737
We Accept BerkShares

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North Plain Farm

North Plain Farm cannot be categorized as producing just one thing. When asked, Sean Stanton rattles of a list that included, chicken, pork, eggs, milk, beef and tomatoes. He has a healthy community of animals, from chickens strolling along the walkway to a matched team of horses. This farmland diversity means that he always has something to bring to market.

A constant supply of products means that Stanton can sell to restaurants, Guido’s, the Berkshire Co-op Market, Rubiner's, the Great Barrington farmer's market, while still offering products directly from the farm. He tries to sell directly from the farm first, but often transactions with restaurants and grocery stores are more predictable. “From day to day,” Stanton said, “I never know how many people will come to the farm.” Though he says that the number has increased noticeably with the introduction of BerkShares.

“Farms are a good avenue for spending BerkShares," says Stanton. Both local businesses and area residents have been coming to him for his heritage meats with the currency in hand.

Residents of the Berkshires have been longtime supporters of locally produced food. The problem, to Stanton, was their inability to find that food beyond the farmer's market. BerkShares have not only put the idea of buying locally into Berkshire residents heads, they have given consumers a directory of local goods. For Stanton and many others, "BerkShares are illuminating the local economy."

The large number of BerkShares the farm has so far received have been easily circulated back to other businesses. Jack’s Country Squire, Barrington Outfitters, Rubiner’s Rubi’s, Verdura, Baba Louis and the Berkshire Coop have all received BerkShares from North Plain Farm.

Stanton believes that the key to making BerkShares work is the continued inclusion of businesses offering varying services. Finding more businesses to accept the currency will be "essential to the increased circulation of BerkShares within the community.”

by Michael Gordon