Alice Maggio is the Local Currency Program Director at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, where she is engaged in further developing the Berkshire Region’s own local currency, BerkShares. She has also become a national and international advocate for nonprofit, place-based currencies. She has been interviewed on the subject of local currencies by the PBS NewsHour, Al Jazeera America, among others. In 2013 she presented at the Left Forum and at the New Economy Coalition’s ReRoute conference, as well as at the Second International Conference on Complementary Currency Systems in the Hague. Alice Maggio grew up in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and graduated from Mount Everett Regional High School in Sheffield. In 2010 she completed her B.A. in Sociology and French Studies at Wesleyan University. After college she went on to bake pies in Brooklyn, teach English in the Alps, and cook Basque food in Manhattan before coming home to work to the Berkshires in 2012.
Sunday, 23 Jul 2017 - “I’m trying to recreate what an American tavern would have been like when it was built back in the old days.”
-- Mark Firth, owner of the Prairie Whale
Tuesday, 13 Jun 2017 - Connection to community is an important theme for the Carpenters, and so they made sure to include big wooden tables in their shop so that customers can come in to work on projects or simply hang out.
Sunday, 2 Apr 2017 - In a world full of commodity coffee, Assembly Coffee Roasters buys from small-scale farmers.
Saturday, 18 Feb 2017 - “Community Supported Agriculture is a relationship between farmers and consumers. It is sharing the risk and also sharing the bounty... the term was literally coined in my dining room in 1986.”
-- Elizabeth Keen, owner of Indian Line Farm in South Egremont, Massachusetts
Saturday, 14 Jan 2017 - Along with a strong backbone of business education Entry to Entrepreneurship has a sharp focus on the local economy, asking students to imagine and write about businesses that fill “import replacement” opportunities in the Berkshires.
Saturday, 17 Dec 2016 - Kenver’s is located in an iconic building that dates back to 1731 and once served as a stagecoach stop. Its beautiful marble floors, high ceilings, and original beams captured Vermeulen’s fancy.
Friday, 25 Nov 2016 - BerkShares help to build regional identity, raise awareness about the importance of local ownership, and empower community-based economic decision-making.
Sunday, 16 Oct 2016 - This fall, with a pumpkin-butternut squash beer and a Belgian “saison” called Champs de Creux, Wandering Star will be showing some seasonal flair.
Friday, 19 Aug 2016 - The sixth annual Berkshire Bike-N-Fly, a benefit event for the Great Barrington Rotary Club’s scholarship fund.
Friday, 22 Jul 2016 - Owned and governed by the people who shop there, the Co-op can adapt to community needs.
Sunday, 3 Jul 2016 - The Berkshire Co-op Market will be developing ways to recirculate the local currency back through the local economy.
Sunday, 26 Jun 2016 - Big Elm’s line includes their chamomile-infused 413 Belgian Saison, their “boss” IPA, the Gerry Dog Stout, and their summery American Lager, along with seasonal specials.
Sunday, 19 Jun 2016 - BerkShares are now available throughout Berkshire County. “BerkShares resonate strongly with our own company’s values.”
--- Charlie O’Brien, president and CEO at Adams Community Bank.
Sunday, 22 May 2016 - "As a public school choral teacher, I am passionate about music in school, but there are certain kids who need something more."
-- Julie Bickford, artistic director of the Berkshire Children's Chorus
Saturday, 30 Apr 2016 - Sheffield-born and -raised and with a liberal arts education, Barrett used to think he wanted to be a politician.
Monday, 18 Apr 2016 - Teamflys operates their flight school during the “dairy bar season,” offering an April-to-October course that includes everything required to get your pilot’s license.
Sunday, 21 Feb 2016 - “With everything that’s going on with the economy, the more local it can be, the more successful and secure.”
--- Oskar Hallig, owner of Only in My Dreams Events
Monday, 25 Jan 2016 - In a market full of pasta sauce behemoths, Ooma Tesoro’s takes a “Small is Beautiful” approach to their business.
Monday, 21 Dec 2015 - “It’s really important that we resist the commodification of the world. We need to hang on to our genuine things.”
-- Dana Bixby
Thursday, 19 Nov 2015 - There is a growing awareness of where and how our goods are made and a lot more transparency from the clothing industry about what we are buying and wearing.
Friday, 16 Oct 2015 - Maddie Elling and Abe Hunrichs of Hosta Hill were intrigued with recipes from Sandor Katz’s "Wild Fermentation," and excited by the opportunity to dig up ancient traditions and experiment with them in the 21st century.
Sunday, 13 Sep 2015 - Isaacs created a design for the currency, BerkShares, that was inspired by the Euro, one that was elegant, contemporary, and “looked as good as global, but had a local feel.”
Friday, 28 Aug 2015 - Right now, Doyle says, is a great time to be in the Berkshires. Thanks to improved communications technology people can choose to live here for the quality of life, even if their work is based somewhere else.
Thursday, 9 Jul 2015 - “When you look at the big picture in the world — between politics and war and where money is going – it’s a privilege and it’s liberating to have our own currency. It’s an action when you use BerkShares. It’s an instant way to not feel helpless; to do something that makes a difference. It’s like voting.”
-- Adam Zieminski, owner of Café Adam
Sunday, 21 Jun 2015 - "Economic gardening really starts in your backyard, and we really like the way that BerkShares create a virtuous circle, in which we can recirculate money in our local economy."
-- Van Shields, executive director of the Berkshire Museum
Tuesday, 26 May 2015 - Some customers are so dedicated, in fact, that they come up from New York for the weekend and buy bagels before heading back to the city. “We are actually the exporter of a Berkshire product — New York-style bagels!”
-- Bob Climo, owner of Great Barrington Bagel Company
Thursday, 19 Mar 2015 - “In many places, things are getting homogenized, which is a real loss for our economy and our culture. I see the Berkshires as one of the final bastions of independent, unique entrepreneurs. What really makes our entire economy go is local people supporting each other.”
-- Rob Navarino, owner of The Chef's Shop in Great Barrington
Wednesday, 18 Feb 2015 - “We’re interested in supporting the local economy because it supports us so much. So we accept BerkShares, giving people an opportunity to keep their money local, and then that incentivizes us to find local purveyors so that we can keep the circulation going.”
-- Casey Rothstein Fitzpatrick, managing partner of the Stagecoach Tavern at Race Brook Lodge
Saturday, 17 Jan 2015 - Doughnuts hold an important place in the American psyche. One Depression-era slogan advised, “As you go through life make this your goal: Watch the doughnut, not the hole.” Thanks to John and Debbie Scalia for stepping in to fill the doughnut hole in our local economy.
Tuesday, 23 Dec 2014 - “If we continue on this path of — dare I say it — food self-sufficiency, we could feed the whole county using 500 acres or fewer. BerkShares is a currency that actually reflects an understanding that we can do things for ourselves.”
-- Ted Dobson, Equinox Farm in Sheffield
Sunday, 14 Dec 2014 - One of the most common complaints heard in the Berkshires is that young Berkshire county residents have few opportunities to stay here after high school and make a good living.
Monday, 1 Dec 2014 - "Our business is inextricably linked not only with the cultural institutions that make the Berkshires such a rich place to live, but also to the economic development of the area and the well-being of the people that work for us."
-- Sarah Eustis, CEO of Main Street Hospitality Group
