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Posted on Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 6 a.m.

Think Local First disappointed at turnout for local currency forums; 3rd meeting is Wednesday

By John Garcia

Organizers hoping to gauge interest in a local currency for Washtenaw County say they've been disappointed by the light turnout at two community meetings in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti last week.

But they'll have a third shot with a final public meeting on Wednesday, March 3 at Vitosha Guest Haus Inn. The public is welcome to drop in any time between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Based on input from the meetings, put on by Think Local First - an organization that promotes individual businesses in Washtenaw County - the local currency idea may move forward or be shelved.

Last week's events - at the Ann Arbor District Library and Ypsilanti Senior Center - were poorly attended, said Ingrid Ault, executive director of Think Local First.

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“What this has told us is that if we were to move forward, it would require more information on our part,” Ault said. “It’s been a little sad. What we really hoped to accomplish is a dialog in the community, and that hasn’t happened. Currency automatically implies dollars to people and they aren’t really aware of the different options.”

Think Local First received a $6,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to research different kinds of local currency. 

Think Local First chose four options, which include:

  • Paper currency, where local money is printed and used much like the federal currency. It could only be spent at participating businesses and could include a discount.
  • Time share currency, where participants would earn local currency by working and spend it at local businesses.
  • Barter currency, where participants register online for a nominal fee to list goods and services they have to offer.
  • Coupon currency, where currency is printed in various denominations that could be used toward making purchases at local participating businesses.

Business owners expressed mixed reactions to the idea.

“It’s great that people trying to do something like that, but there’s probably other areas that could be looked at,” said Eddie Phelps, owner of Fast Eddie’s Music in downtown Ypsilanti.

Kim Anderson, the general manager of Club Divine in downtown Ypsilanti, said she's against a barter system.

“Our prices are set that way for reason," Anderson said. "But we don’t have any issues with coupons,”

Other business owners are embracing the idea of a Washtenaw County currency.

“I think it’s a great concept to help raise awareness about what is in the community rather than what’s available in the big boxes,” said Vicki Honeyman, owner of Vicki’s Wash & Wear Haircuts and Heavenly Metal in downtown Ann Arbor.

Brian Brinkley, the owner of The Tap Room in Ypsilanti, agreed.

“Obviously anything you can do to get people into downtown Ypsi where the parking isn’t great, and especially if it creates a better value by being paid for in part by another organization," Brinkley said. "But it’s only a tool to get people in the door in the first time and then it’s up to businesses and the community to create a viable and vibrant safe shopping district.”

John Garcia is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.

Comments

Grand Marquis de Sade

Sat, Mar 6, 2010 : 12:46 a.m.

People are either going to support local business or they aren't. Some gimmicky local currency is not going to change that. Does anybody else think it's ironic that so many people who purport to support local businesses drive foreign cars when all 3 domestic manufacturers are headquartered within an hour's drive from Ann Arbor/Ypsi? It seems like the money spent on a Ford/GM/Chrysler product would go a lot further than that spent on some locally grown head of lettuce. But what do I know?

John Turmel

Wed, Mar 3, 2010 : 11:43 a.m.

Jct: The point is to have the community currency lifeboat ready for people to join when they're in bad enough straits to want to trade their labor for labor or stuff. If it's an online database, it will simply grow and grow as people decided they need to trade with something if they don't have any cash. So set up, and when things get worse, you won't have to start building the lifeboat, it will already be there.

Chase Ingersoll

Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 10:31 p.m.

John: Last year I wrote an article as an attempt to explain local currency. The article was picked up and published in the international online magazine Community Currency Magazine http://www.a2sbx.com/the-auto-thimble-top-hat-and-shoe which is the foremost publication concerning this issue/ I attended the meeting in Ypsilanti and will probably attend Wednesday. I applaud the investment of the DDA and Ingrid, but as someone who has been researching local currencies and the 21st century technology used in managing LETS (local exchange transaction systems) of an electronic and paper hybrid system that are found throughout the North America and the world, I think that in some ways the DDA and Ingrid are using a process or method that is going to set them up for disappointment. I've not only been researching and involved in the technological mechanics of an exchange system for years, I have been advocating it locally for more than a year and half, (informally albeit) within the downtown business community (DDA, Main Street Association, Spark and A2B3) and with my clients and business contacts. But I have only been in Ann Arbor for a few years and don't have the depth of contacts as relative outsider to have personal credibility on the issues as the DDA and Ingrid Ault inside Think Local would have. Any credibility I have is simply based upon the information I have and it is troubling to read your article as while it is reporting on the status of a program and public perceptions it is not actually address the real issues of the benefits and liabilities of different types of exchanges, where they have worked or have not, what the likely causes of the failures or success were/are and how the playing field for motivating the public in the direction of local control of means has exchanged due to national/international monetary policy. Accordingly, the comments that I read in regards to the article are the painful result, of a straw man raised, not necessarily by, but perhaps more raised by others for the commenter. I will do my best to be there tomorrow night to actually advocate for a local exchange and to give in depth answers as to the various models and my consideration and analysis of each and/or combinations of each. I would like to share with your readers http://community-exchange.org which is the web and mobile based platform that researched and chose to put in place for an exchange in Ann Arbor, a year ago. In that time I have shared the information with a number of small business people as I did at a Meetup this morning and at least 50% audience was interested and encouraging. The crux of starting an exchange or local currency is: 1. have people/businesses who are PRODUCERS of excess goods or services; 2. the GOODS and SERVICES offered must be DIVERSE - you can't really get started if all of your participants are of one particular trade/service or are all trying to sell each other the same thing. 3. the participants must educate themselves as to the mechanics of listing their products (like a Craigslist Account) on the exchange (but without the spammers) and how to request and send money (like Paypal) or how to print out exchange currency in the form of a coupon to be used by for such services where the provider is not or does not have access to the internet......to be continued.......

KJMClark

Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 9:04 p.m.

The Wikipedia has a pretty good article on local currencies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_currency. Here's an example. As the economy continues to head south, we eventually get so many unemployed people and so many local businesses on the verge of bankruptcy that we try a local currency. At that point, the local amount of $ is so low, and the velocity of that money is so low, that dollars are only barely working as a unit of exchange. That happened in many places in the Great Depression. So the local government or a group of local businesses issues a local currency. Some workers, who would be unemployed otherwise, are paid in the local currency for various work. They pay in the local currency to businesses that agree to accept it, and the businesses in turn pay for other local services with the local currency. It allows people to do work and get paid for it, and for businesses to stay in business, in a situation where the normal flow of regular money has partially or completely broken down. If this sounds like a silly idea to you, then you are probably employed and/or work at a business that isn't having problems right now.

Mark Hergott

Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 12:23 p.m.

What is this, 1782? This has to be the stupidest idea I have heard in a long time, and I have anarchist friends.

anonymous

Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 11:51 a.m.

I *completely* agree with SonnyDog09. I buy local when it's affordable and convenient, but often it's neither of those things. I'm floored by how much more money I have in my bank account now that I'm doing my grocery shopping at Meijer or Walmart rather than the local markets downtown. And since I work 9 to 5 Monday to Friday (like most people, I imagine), I don't have much of a chance to check out many of the local shops. I walked to Kerrytown on a Sunday a couple weeks ago to do some shopping and everywhere I wanted to go was closed...it looked like a ghost town. I understand that local businesses can't keep their prices as low as huge national chains can, and if I ever make a decent salary I'll be happy to pay a little more to support local shops, but at this point in my life I simply can't afford it, and I'm sure that I'm not alone in this. Maybe local shops will have more success convincing people to pay higher prices when and if the economy improves...but in the meantime, I'm not convinced that implementing a local currency will be that helpful.

SonnyDog09

Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 10:57 a.m.

I have a few ideas to increase local business that do not involve local currency or coupons. 1. Keep your business open when your customers can visit you. If you close your business at 5pm on a week day, you've lost my business. Very few of your customers can drop by during the day to shop. You are not entitled to my business. 2. parking, parking, parking. If I have to pay to shop at your store, and can shop at another that offers free parking, you'll have to offer me a better deal than they do. 3. We are all cost conscious these days, so a better idea than coupons would be to lower the price for everyone of your customers. Simple, but effective.

Bob

Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 1 a.m.

What is badly needed is increased purchasing power. People are losing their homes, unable to make payments on their debts, wondering when and where the next shoe is going to drop. While Ann Arbor may not be in as tight a place as the rest of the country, everyone would like more money in their pockets. I checked out the forum Think Local First put on and was intrigued by what I saw. The one I believe might work the best for any local comunity is the "coupon" idea. It's simple to do, easy to distribute and provides a discount, the amount determined by each business that offers to accept it, on every purchase made. The coupons themselves can inturn be used by the business owners at other businesses that also accept them. While this might not seem like that big of a deal, for every coupon you are able to use you have that much more in your pocket to spend where the coupons are not taken. The advatages are that, in general, the big box stores will not accept them, so they must be taken to a "local" business that has agreed to accept them. They circulate locally so they don't end up in Bentonville, lining Walmart's pockets. They are free to anyone who wants them and decides to get involved in the program. They are paid for by businesses who advertise on the back of each coupon. For the businesses, it is advertising that circulates and catches everyones attention who has the coupon in their hand. Because it circulates locally, it has the power to strengthen the community. It ties in with the idea of trying to by more local food products as well. Since more and more communities are looking at this concept, it might provide opportunities for people to use their coupons as they are traveling in other local business in other local communties that might accept them. I think the idea actually has quite a bit of merit. This day and age we need to be thinking outside the box for ideas that can change the course this country is heading in. Rather than write a potentially good idea off without exploring its possibilities, lets put our heads together and try a few things and see if they work. You just never know when a dumb idea might be a money maker like.... the "Pet Rock". Regards, Bob from Ypsilanti

snapshot

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 11:49 p.m.

I think the DDA is a little out of whack with the idea of dedicating time, effort, and money to the development of a local currency when Ann Arbor is facing a dire economic failure. Here is an article on local currency. According to "Smart Money" Febrary 2010 issue "Rollin' Out The Dough" article on towns printing their own currency. The bottom line is there are sucesses like Western Massachusetts BerkShare which is accepted by 400 businesses with a circulation of 2.5 million with 20,000 residents. There are many more failures however. According to a study of 82 local currencies by a sociologist named Ed Collum at the University of Southern Maine there was only a 20% survival rate.

ryan444123

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 11:24 p.m.

I support coupons and the like, but a local currency sounds wasted. Sure, it might sound great but cold hard cash/credit credits are a lot easier/more accessible.

bunnyabbot

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 11:07 p.m.

yeah bigmike, I second that, there's always some taxey paperwork to do, it never ends!

DougEFresh

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:44 p.m.

The US Mint/Bureau of Engraving prints money and then gives it to the FED who then loans it out to banks. Thus, all money in circulation has a price on it. In contrast Congress could just print money to directly pay for all services that improve the country (about anything except war.) There would be no talk about local currencies if the Fed didn't have a stranglehold on the money supply. And the inflation issue is mostly a myth; paying for wars is the hidden cause of inflation since the wars do not improve the value of the country. Obviously our local economy isn't hurting enough to spur on a local script. It may be difficult to implement, but introducing a local currency could introduce millions into the county every year. Yet, many here complain about the city spending $6K. No matter the feasibility issues and lack of public support, I applaud the DDA for thinking creatively and looking into this issue.

Shitari123

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:18 p.m.

This is the dumbest idea I've ever heard of. Figures it would come from this town. Apparently,by the turnout numbers, I'm not the only one that feels this way.

yaah

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 4:47 p.m.

This is a silly idea which will not help local businesses at all, unless someone sets up a "real money to local money" exchange parlor and is somehow able to charge a fee for it. It may result in some unfortunate tourists trading in real money for local money which will then become useless when they leave - but this will only make them irritated. Personally, I would not be surprised at the low turnout, since it sounds like a joke. Like "Disney Dollars" at the Disney world parks.

braggslaw

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 2:25 p.m.

What a ridiculous idea. I hope it has no legs.

Regular Voter

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 1:55 p.m.

The mayor. Sits on DDA. Appoints the DDA board. Has been in office forever. Long enough for his ideas to filter all around and color everything. Free money to finance folly. Like this picture? He needs your vote for reelection to lead us further down this road to ruin. Get out and vote!

RTFM

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 1:42 p.m.

The greatest idea ever! Print this up and pay our elected officials and city executives in this new currency. This might save the taxpayers a lot of real and unstable US currency. Just a thought!

MjC

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 1:34 p.m.

1) If I had to deal with a different paper currency to use at participating businesses around town, I'd take my business out of town. 2) If the time share currency means I would wash restaurant dishes in exchange for dinner, then I might as well stay home and do my own dishes and my own cooking. 3) Bartering is already available through craigslist. 4) There is nothing new about using coupons.

slyde734

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 12:26 p.m.

The Confederacy issued their own currency and look how great it turned out for them...I say we go for it.

ralphypsilanti

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 12:24 p.m.

I believe and do support buy local whenever possible, if equitable product and within proximity of Ypsilanti. Most cases, the local outfit's prices are competitive with the "big box". My prerequisite choosing (probably naive) a "local" or "big box" store is how much contributes to my tax and employment boundaries (city, township, county, state...). Local currency to me is another form of a coupon and an unneeded layer of bureaucracy.

YpsiLivin

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 12:13 p.m.

V., The Federal Reserve Board was created by Congress in 1913. Congress designed it, structured it and has never given up control of it. Simply put, your statement that the Fed is privately owned is utterly false. The Board may be made up of individuals who come from private industry, but that doesn't mean the Fed is privately owned.

BigMike

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 12:08 p.m.

As a local business owner, I have enough to do between all the paperwork for my property taxes, personal property taxes, unemployment insurance, liability insurance, payroll taxes, state income taxes, federal income taxes... not to mention the $$$ I pay! A local currency would just mean more expense and book-keeping for local business people. Ick!

bunnyabbot

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 12:03 p.m.

the idea is silly and the fact that no one showed up should show how much interest there is in it. As a small business owner I can say that there is already a buy local vibe all over town. The huge push for it this past holiday had my fourth quarter sales up 30% (granted the rest of last year was down) but people really are making an effort to shop local, the effort to continue this should be advertised and pushed. As far as business to business there already is a lot of bartering of services and goods. Business owners already know how to do this to stertch their pennies.

uawisok

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 11:52 a.m.

For A2 being an "enlightened and educated" community they don't connect the dots very well as to how this "global" econmomy is gutting the middle class and independent small buisness owner selling local goods. classic case of " it's not happening to me so why be concerned"...the race to the bottom continues!!

Kerry

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 11:40 a.m.

The City of Ann Arbor needs to spend its tax money locally! When city employees shop at Lowe's or Home Depot, it hurts our local lumber and hardware stores. The big box stores do not even pay Ann Arbor Taxes (they are in the township).

Somewhat Concerned

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:48 a.m.

People buy locally because it is convenient (and don't buy locally when it isn't - difficult or expensive parking for the privilege of spending our money) and at places that offer something unique or superior. The Web is convenient and you can find lots of unique items there, so it's a tough bar to get over, but some store do it consistently, and they will get our business. A pain-in-the-neck local currency will just be a hassle that will fail. The DDA has too much money to burn. $6000 to investigate local currency?! It tells you something about how out of touch they are with we who buy or don't buy in their stores and restaurants.

YpsiLivin

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:41 a.m.

The point of having a federal currency is to eliminate local currencies. The point of having a local currency is...

Adam Jaskiewicz

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:35 a.m.

The post above by seldon hits the nail on the head. The message is loud and clear: "Local currency? What's the point? This is silly, and I won't waste my time going to a meeting." Frankly, I don't see the point. People who don't care about local businesses won't care about local currency, and may even be annoyed if it gets pushed on them, making them less likely to visit the businesses where they are pressured into accepting monopoly money. People who DO care about local businesses will patronize them anyway, local currency or not. The way this works in Detroit (and I use the term "works" loosely), from what I understand, is that there are several businesses that participate in the program as issuers, and can issue the bills. They have to have real dollars on hand to back the notes they issue. It is treated just like federal currency (and is pegged to federal currency), and you can exchange it for USD. You have to specifically ask for it; nobody will even mention the existence of the program unless you ask, so if you don't know there IS a local currency, you probably will never even see it (I've never seen a Detroit Cheer despite knowing about the program and patronizing a number of participating businesses fairly often).

Bridget Bly

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:18 a.m.

I think the idea is that you would buy the local currency with your federal currency and then, perforce, could only spend that money in the county. If there was a discount, that would offer an incentive. It's a clunky, high-overhead idea, because you have to distribute the stuff and businesses have to agree to accept it, and you have to make it so it can't be forged, etc., etc. How about if we all just make a commitment to buy local? AA.com could even run a website on which people signed a petition to do at least X% of their shopping locally. Or they could be at different levels, like contributors to the symphony: "Benefactor's Circle" for those who buy 80% of all goods and services within AA boundaries! Or wait! Here's another idea. How about a city-based affinity credit card. The city signs up Bank of Ann Arbor to provide VISA cards (you'd have to apply in the regular way) but then 1% of everything you spend on that card goes to some city budget item we all support -- the police, or fire department, or public schools or something.

a2grateful

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:13 a.m.

I would be quite happy to schedule meetings that are unattended for $5,000... US currency, of course : ) That would represent a 20% "savings" to those "great fiduciaries" also known as the a2 DDA...

DagnyJ

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:10 a.m.

This is such nonsense. The fact that no one came to the meetings is indeed the input from the community.

javajolt1

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 10:05 a.m.

Seems like a somewhat ill conceived poorly communicated initiative. Oh but wait! The DDA did spend $6000 of YOUR money on it!

a2grateful

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 9:32 a.m.

I wonder if the $1mil folly fountain artist would accept the DDA local-currency bucks?

Top Cat

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 9:09 a.m.

What is the purpose of this? What is the upside? Why would someone want this "currency"? Am I missing something here?

Steve the Wookiee

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 9:05 a.m.

@ seldon - You hit it right on the head.

Gail

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8:48 a.m.

Well, if I GOT a newspaper every day, and GOT information before the DAY of the meeting, I might have been able to go...but we get reports on what happened, not what's going to happen. Can't wait to see what happens during the next election cycle with all of us "very well informed Ann Arborites" NOT involved cuz we don't know about (insert event here).

KJMClark

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8:39 a.m.

Local currencies need either a critical mass of underemployed and hurting businesses, or a group of people and businesses dedicated to the idea. I think the lack of interest in Ypsilanti is from people not understanding the concept. Ann Arbor probably still has enough greenbacks floating around, though there are likely more people in AA that have seen a local currency at work somewhere else.

Steve Pepple

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8:33 a.m.

The public is welcome to drop in any time between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. I'm adding that to the story.

tdw

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8:29 a.m.

Is there any web site that explains how this works or is supposed to work? I'm lost on this

Laura Meisler

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8:18 a.m.

Umm...what time is Wednesday's meeting?????

seldon

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8:02 a.m.

I think the low turnout pretty much *is* the input they're looking for, even if it isn't the answer they want.

dconkey

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 8 a.m.

If the DDA had 6K to spend, I bet if they gave $60.00 to 100 random people at various loctions around the area, that money would have found it's way very quickly into the the local businesses.

xmo

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:50 a.m.

Local currency is a lot easier to copy than U S Currency. With money tight, I wouldn't trust the local currency unless it was gold backed!

InsideTheHall

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:49 a.m.

The Socialist Republic of Ann Arbor now wants its own currency. Does this dovetail with the looming income tax???????? Be afraid be very afraid when government is in session.

jcj

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:45 a.m.

What do we want a global economy or a local economy? Make up your mind! It took $6000 to realize this is a non starter?

Peter Schermerhorn

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:20 a.m.

Whoops, I guess I missed that these forums were happening. I know that local currencies are a vibrant and useful tool in communities across the country, and I know that public education about them is key to success. $6,000 isn't a whole lot of seed money to explore this, unfortunately. I'll do my best to make it to the next forum and show support for the idea. Thanks to A2.com for covering this, even if it was to register the disappointment.

ebl

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:12 a.m.

Can anyone explain how a local currency would be distributed? Do local employers pay you in the local currency? Do you have to trade in federal currency to get local currency? And if that's the case, would it discourage local buying if it took an extra step to get the correct currency? Any information about how the proposed systems work would be nice to learn about.

Eric

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7:11 a.m.

I think people are not understanding what it might take to ensure a stable and sustainable local quality of life. It may just be that its not the right time in history to introduce these alternative method of paying or obtaining the goods and services. I don't understand how a community can survive without some local control, production, etc. of important things we use to live day to day. In my life time I've seen a continual erosion of locally controlled businesses, and local employment, and at the same time increasingly more chaotic and uncertain supply of those critical goods and services.

AlphaAlpha

Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 7 a.m.

Did they investigate the LocalMart concept? Any conclusions?