BerkShares Pocket Directory Now Available
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Berkshire citizens and visitors can now find the complete and up-to-date list of “BerkShares Businesses” in a newly printed pocket directory available at all 13 participating bank branches, from Lenox to Sheffield.
The pocket directory is a hand-held guide to all of the businesses that accept BerkShares, the Berkshire Region’s local currency. Business listings are organized by type, (food, services, lodging, shopping, etc.), and each listing is coded to reflect the business’s location.
The number of businesses that have officially signed up to accept BerkShares is greater than ever. This network of BerkShares Businesses spans economic sectors and includes food and beer manufacturers, artists, lawyers, dentists, plumbers, contractors, excavators, retailers, health care providers, restaurants and community nonprofits, among others.
BerkShares present an opportunity to retain even more money in the local economy and to support and enhance the success of local businesses. The “BerkShares Accepted Here” sticker displayed by BerkShares businesses and exchange banks helps consumers to distinguish the locally owned businesses and the community-minded banks that make the Berkshires unique. The 95 cents/1 BerkShare exchange rate incentivizes citizens to spend their money in locally owned businesses and encourages local businesses to recirculate the money by spending it with other local businesses.
While many regions such as the mid-Hudson Valley are just now developing tools to retain money in the local economy, the Berkshire Region already has one at hand, BerkShares. BerkShares are issued by a nonprofit membership organization, in which the membership elects the board of directors. This puts the economic tool of a local currency in the hands of the people of the region in which it circulates.
Any person or business in the Berkshire Region may accept or spend BerkShares. However, businesses that register with BerkShares benefit from a free listing in both the online and printed directories and from promotion in BerkShares social media. Business owners may register their business to be included in the BerkShares directory by visiting the “Business Sign-up” page of the BerkShares website.
