Bookselling This Week - Nomi Schwartz - The signs at Sunday's festival in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, announced: "One million sold."
That's not burgers or books, but BerkShares dollar notes, a currency adopted by towns in the Berkshire Region of New York state and western Massachusetts to support locally owned businesses and services.
Businessweek - Jeffery Gangemi - Steve Carlotta, owner of the three-employee Great Barrington (Mass.) camera store Snap Shop, had been losing business for the last five years to discounters on the Internet. Then, in September, 2006, his town launched a currency program called BerkShares designed to strengthen the local economy by encouraging consumers to support local businesses.
NPR - MADELEINE BRAND, host:
It seems like Slim is practically printing his own money. Here in the U.S., legally only the U.S. Treasury can do that. In some places, though, residents can exchange their legal tender for money that can only be spent locally. It's a way to support small businesses.