Beth Thielen and BerkShares

This is Beth Thielen (left) with one of her projects. Beth is another artist and activist I met at the Blue Mountain Center. She told us about an experiment in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts where they are printing their own currency which they call BerkShares. Exchanging $100 gets you $105 BerkShare dollars.



Beth sent me an email this morning (with the image above) and the message, "What better way to participate in an experiment for an alternative economic future than to buy my morning coffee with BerkShares!"

I took a snapshot of some of the currency. The top two are the fronts of bills and the remainder are the backs:



From their website, this is an explanation of BerkShares:

"BerkShares are a local currency for the Berkshire region. Dubbed a "great economic experiment" by the New York Times, BerkShares are a tool for community empowerment, enabling merchants and consumers to plant the seeds for an alternative economic future for their communities. Launched in the fall of 2006, BerkShares had a robust initiation, with over one million BerkShares having been circulated in the first nine months and over two million to date. Currently, more than three hundred and sixty businesses have signed up to accept the currency. Five different banks have partnered with BerkShares, with a total of thirteen branch offices now serving as exchange stations. For BerkShares, this is only the beginning. Future plans could involve BerkShare checking accounts, electronic transfer of funds, ATM machines, and even a loan program to facilitate the creation of new, local businesses manufacturing more of the goods that are used locally."