Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Chelsea Cash Program

One idea that we need to explore is creating a new Chelsea Cash program.
Please submit ideas to this blog and we will accumulate them and work on creating a GREAT CHELSEA program. Hand written Gift Certificates are an option but not an optimal option. Gift Cards may be an option , if the system can be worked out with a bank. A passport system has been discussed. A cash program creating physical "Chelsea " Dollar bills could also be an option.

Submit your ideas as soon as possible.

5 comments:

  1. It may be worth contacting the folks behind the "Bay Bucks" project in the Traverse area: www.baybucks.org. It would take a lot of work, but it has the potential to be a great community project involving citizens, business owners and artists (some folks are all three). Local currency projects not only keep money circulating within a community, they often get regional or national press, which doesn't hurt when you're trying to make Chelsea a destination.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chris - great pointer to the http://www.baybucks.org information. Interesting reading.

    A little searching shows that local currencies are a popular item over the last year:

    http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5978

    USA Today, April 2009

    Time Magazine, July 2009

    Encouraging local shopping to boost the local economy is clearly a great thing.

    I'm a little worried about the complexity (issuing, accounting, exchanging, paying taxes on value, etc.) of alternative paper bucks, and this is not encouraging:

    ---
    Ed Collom, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Southern Maine, has studied (programs like this) and found that about 80% failed, chiefly because of administrative burnout. (Source: Time)
    ---

    Maybe a simple gift certificate promotion would easier to get off the ground? Not sure if an electronic system would be simpler or not.

    But in any case, anything that could keep local dollars in the local economy is worth trying out.

    ReplyDelete
  3. One other thought. The intent of a Chelsea Cash program would be to encourage shopping locally. Are there other ways encourage that habit that do not have as much administrative overhead?

    Perhaps Chelsea could go 'all in' with a program like the 3/50 project?

    the 3/50 project

    That outfit has great free marketing materials (posters, counter-top displays, fliers, graphics/badges for online use, etc.) that communities can use to bootstrap a 'shop local' campaign.

    Their stated goal is to 'Save the Bricks and Mortar Our Nation is Built On', and they are getting national press already.

    I know the New Chelsea Market has been displaying some of the 3/50 stuff. Are other Chelsea businesses already doing that too, and I just haven't noticed?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Me again.

    What about the Think Local First of Washtenaw County efforts?

    ---
    Mission
    ---
    Our mission is to support and cultivate locally-owned, independent businesses in Washtenaw County, Michigan that are committed to making our community a healthier and more vibrant place to live.

    Think Local First provides resource sharing and community building opportunities for locally-owned independent businesses as well as raising community awareness and developing strategies for supporting these businesses.
    ---

    Looks like they have 208 businesses in their online directory, but I can't find any from Chelsea, although Dexter is well-represented. Seems to have a mostly Ann Arbor focus right now.

    But if Chelsea businesses were listed, the Ann Arbor focus of their materials and distribution (I've seen their print directory too, and it's quite nice) would be a plus. It would give Chelsea merchants a bit of visibility and give shop-localites in A2 a reason to travel out here.

    They are already banging the drum on the importance of shopping locally, and have an executive director for the project. Anything Chelsea could leverage by getting into their messaging materials?

    It costs money (sliding scale) to be a member business, but perhaps the Chelsea Chamber or other body could negotiate a discount for Chelsea businesses. Or even handle the passing of names/addresses/logos for entry into the Think Local First database.

    Thoughts?

    ReplyDelete
  5. In case you didn't know what ThinkLocalFirst of Washtenaw County is up to. Local currency stuff from their website:

    http://www.thinklocalfirst.net/

    ---
    We're Studying Local Currencies!

    Think Local First is moving forward with the Ann Arbor Downtown Development grant to study the feasibility of establishing a local currency in our area. We have scheduled three workshops for the community to come and participate. You'll learn about the different types of local currency programs already in place around the world and have an opportunity to express your opinion about which one, if any, that you would support. We selected three evenings to hold the meetings with the hope of including as many folks as possible. Anyone from Washtenaw County may attend any of the meetings. Here are the dates and locations for each meeting:

    Tuesday, February 23rd - 6 PM - at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor District Library

    Thursday, February 25th - 6 PM - at the Ypsilanti Senior Center

    Wednesday, March 3rd - 6 PM - at Vitosha Guest Haus Inn (formerly the Unitarian Church)
    ---

    Might be good to have Chelsea folks attend one of these meetings to see what's afoot.

    ReplyDelete