The Whole Person, an alternative event publication with wide distribution throughout Southern California, featured The Ojai Forum in their November 2009 issue.  Article by Nancy Gross.

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The Ojai Valley News covered the Ojai Economy Group, August 13, 2009:

Currency Events Planned For Ojai
New group eyes local money, among other ideas, to boost Ojai’s economy

By Cole Bettles, intern

Ojai likes to think of itself as standing apart from the rest of the world. Soon, that list of distinctions could include our own money.

The Ojai Economy Group, recently formed to consider this idea, among others, to stimulate the local economy, admits that creating an additional monetary system is not simple.

But here is the basic idea: in theory, a local bank would sell 100 Ojai bucks for, let’s say, $105. Then the Ojai dollars could be spent at local, participating merchants and upon a purchase, customers will receive a discount set by the retailer.

Next, the retailer could exchange the Ojai bucks back to U.S. dollars. The surplus of the federal currency, at the local bank, would be pumped back into the community, specifically to charitable organizations.

The Ojai Economy Group is projecting that this buck will stimulate economic growth within the community. The stimulus package, like a pebble dropped in the middle of a lake, has little to no effect on small companies and communities that lie far from the epicenter.

Since Ojai is made up of small businesses, members of the community, such as the Ojai Economy Group, are philosophizing and concocting ways to battle the recession from the bottom up; call it the “Trickle Up Theory.” The notion of a new currency is getting mixed reviews.

“Sounds like communism to me,” said an Ojai merchant, who described the idea with abhorrence and consequently requested to remain anonymous.

“This is a terrific idea. Ojai needs to understand the importance of spending money in their own community,” said another anonymous store owner, who happened to be located directly next door to the anti-communist merchant.

After interviewing more than 30 Ojai stores, it was apparent that there is a dynamic array of views regarding adapting this innovative yet ancient system. Passing from store to store was like switching back and forth from MSNBC and Fox News. The store owners, like the members of the community, want more information before they commit to participating.

The Ojai Economy Group is hosting an event from Sept. 25 to 27, and they will discuss the Ojai buck. For more information, visit their web site, ojaieconomy.com.

Creating a new currency is an extremely intricate process. “I would normally say creating a new currency provides a temporary solution to a long-term problem, but that’s because I have mostly studied creating currencies in small countries,” said Pierre Weill, an economics professor at UCLA.

The idea raised a number of questions that the professor had to research and confer with colleagues before providing a solid analysis. After evaluating the idea, he said, “I think this is great. If I own a restaurant, I have two kinds of customers: locals and visitors. The locals are obviously educated about the area and the visitors are not. By providing a discount to your local costumers, you can provide a competitive service, while maintaining the higher price for your visitors.”

In Great Barrington, Mass., citizens created BerkShares, a supplementary currency. “There are currently 2.4 million BerkShares in circulation and at any given point, there are $150,000 that remain in circulation,” said Susan Witt, co-founder of BerkShares. More than 400 businesses formally accept the currency and about 200 merchants informally accept it.

“The currency has created great discussion, but it really isn’t a political issue. You will find Democrats and Republicans supporting the BerkShare,” said Witt. But in Ojai, there was a positive correlation between a person’s political identity and their attitude toward the Ojai buck. “In December, during the financial meltdown, we found a lot of small businesses willing to adapt the BerkShare. During times of economic difficulties, small business get creative,” said Witt. She juxtaposed the dollar to fast food and continued to say, “We call the BerkShares a slow money. Instead of doing everything on the computer, you go down to meet the people at the bank, meet the local citizens selling the item, you have personal conversations.”

There are no legal ramifications to adopting an additional currency. In the United States, during the early 1800s, each bank issued its own currency. To this day, it is a fundamental right to issue an additional currency. Weill said, “Local currencies proved to be an effective way to battle the Great Depression.” Even though we are only experiencing effects from a recession, history shows that creating an Ojai buck could allow Ojai’s economic activity to thrive.

Ojai Group Aims To Create Local Currency
Thursday, July 30, 2009
By Ric Romero
OJAI, Calif. (KABC) — The small town of Ojai is considering making their own form of currency to help insulate local businesses from fiscal collapse.

Greenbacks. Ben Franklin’s. Our money has a lot of names, but it may soon be getting a new one — at least in the town of Ojai. The resort community is almost two hours north of Los Angeles.

It relies on tourists spending their cash as its main industry.

“There is no big factory. There is nothing that has people employed here. Ojai itself is the industry,” said Roberta Raye, Ojai business owner.

Lately the quaint town has been seeing fewer dollars. Community leaders have come up with an idea. They want to create their own town currency, and some businesses are all for it.

“It is an interesting concept. I’m very into exploring the opportunities,” said Catherine Nation, Ojai business owner.

Since March a team called the Ojai Community Group has been meeting to iron out the details of the new bucks.

“We look at this is a complimentary currency to help strengthen the local economy, which has its struggles in part because it is tied to the national economy,” said Tyler Suchman, community leader.

But only recently have they come up with a mock-up card and a working title for the new currency, it is called the Ojai Buck.

The Ojai Buck is going to be similar to a person’s debit card. They are planning to have three ATM machines in town. It is a way of keeping all of the money in the community.

“Anything we can do for our community to bring it together and keep all of us driving will be better for us all in the end,” said Susan Coulter, Ojai business owner.

A community currency is not something new. In 2006, western Massachusetts started their own money called, Berkshares. They now have over $2.5 million in circulation.

A few questions remain before Ojai Bucks go out to the public, like federal and state tax ramifications. But the plan is to roll out the new currency by the end of September.

(Copyright ©2009 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

From HopeDance Magazine, Summer 2009, #73:

The Ojai Economy Group
Investing in the Power of Local Solutions
by Vickie Peters
Summer 2009

“When a group of people learn how to work together for the common good, they discover the power of community and realize that they are interdependently wealthy and capable of anything they apply their hearts and minds to.” — Michael Lindfield, Advisor, Ojai Economy Group

If there is a glimmer of hope to be found in the troubling implications of overpopulation, climate change, peak oil, ecological devastation and financial meltdown, it may be the growing awareness that the global culture and economy are failing to meet our needs. Along with this realization comes the opportunity to create local economies that are more resilient and sustainable.

Acclaimed monetary systems expert Bernard Lietaer believes that greed and fear of scarcity are being continuously created and amplified as a direct result of the kind of money we are using, and he isn’t surprised that the world is suffering from a monetary crisis. “Money is like an iron ring that we’ve put through our noses,” he says. “We’ve forgotten that we designed it, and now it’s leading us around.” (www.lietaer.com). According to Lietaer, modern economics can be described as “a way of allocating scarce resources through the mechanisms of competition and personal greed.” Because of the inherent inequities of this flawed system, it is failing to meet the long-term goals of civilization. In order to turn things around, we need to create healthy local communities and economies that share the characteristics of healthy ecosystems: their sustainability depends not only on their efficiency, but also on their diversity and interconnectivity.

Lietaer is convinced that we need to design monetary and social systems that support sustainability and community. People everywhere who believe in the power of local solutions to global problems are embracing this perspective. It’s being called localization or transition, and it’s happening because people are recognizing that the unsustainable global economic system is failing to protect humans, the environment, and the natural systems on which all life depends (www.localfuture.org).

Evolutionary economist Hazel Henderson agrees, and also stresses that cooperation is essential for ecologically sustainable development. “We are all learning that money, a useful invention of the human mind, is not wealth. Real wealth is in human talents, wisdom and understanding of the priceless assets and ecological capital of our living planet.

Henderson will be a featured presenter (via satellite) at The 2009 Ojai Forum on the New Economy: Healthy Local Communities, Civic Engagement and Global Sustainability (www.ojaiforum.com), which is being convened by the Ojai Economy Group (OEG). The forum will begin Friday, September 25, with a working dinner of locally grown fare, followed by an interactive discussion co-chaired by Henderson (www.hazelhenderson.com), socially responsible investment consultant Stuart Valentine (www.iowapam.com), and Rinaldo Brutoco, founder of the World Business Academy (www.worldbusiness.org). The following two days will be structured around intensive workshops dedicated to the development of specific action plans for strengthening the local economy.

The OEG is comprised of private citizens who share the view that the current economic crisis also represents an opportunity to create a more resilient, compassionate, and sustainable local economy for the Ojai Valley. They envision new levels of thinking, creativity and innovation that is based upon principles of goodwill, trust and cooperation (www.ojaieconomy.com). According to one of the group’s founders, Tyler Suchman, “The idea of supporting the local economy through various initiatives such as alternative currency and bartering has been kicked around by many individuals for many years. The OEG hopes to bring together the right people at the right time, all of whom have had great success starting and building community-oriented companies, projects, and non-profit organizations.”

The OEG is exploring the ideas around local economy from four directions at this point: alternative currency, bartering, giving and investing.  “Ultimately, a systems approach incorporates all of these ideas into a cohesive platform for a sustainable local economy,” Suchman says. The group is still considering how time, skills,and service might be woven into the fabric of a supportive, nourishing, and resilient local economy, taking into account the demographic, economic, cultural and geographic variables involved.

They will be evaluating various types of community currency, including a card system (gift cards, cash cards, and debit cards), a printed currency (similar to other local currencies like Ithaca Hours and BerkShares and the currently inactive SLO Hours) and the possibility of a points system that could be tied to bartering, service, gifting and volunteering.  Once they’re in place, the OEG envisions that these complementary forms of community currency will provide a local alternative to the dollar that can be used as a tool for supporting local businesses and non-profits and even tourism.

The OEG will also be considering the viability of a barter economy, where goods and services can be exchanged among multiple parties, along with the development of a supportive infrastructure for gifting, volunteerism and philanthropy for local community investment projects. Ellen Hall, another founding member, is concerned that the non-profits that give the Ojai Valley its unique value and soul are especially vulnerable due to the economic crisis, and believes that strengthening the local economy will help these organizations to survive. “The goal of a thriving Ojai goes beyond preservation of the quality of life supported by the current economy. A transformed local economy based on principles of goodwill and mutual support will enhance relationships,” she says.

Individually and collectively, members of the OEG are researching how to best prioritize and integrate various programs and will be exploring these topics during their upcoming forum on the new economy. According to conference coordinator Roger Collis, “the new economy is not at odds with the old economy; it is not a replacement. Elements of the old economy are changing and people are hungry for alternatives.” The goals of the forum are to convene the community in a transformational context and to capture the creativity, ideas and vision that are needed to strengthen and support the local economy.

Collis emphasizes the importance of looking at the economy from a holistic perspective. “We are not just talking about finances, we are talking about a way of life, a new consciousness that embraces all facets of human life – cooperating with nature through sustainable agricultural practices, education for the whole child, caring for elderly, a health system that is affordable for all people, a culture of personal creativity and sense of community.  There is so much more we can do as people and as a society once we are able to overcome our doubts and fears of the future.  The future is ours to shape, and new economic strategies are a necessary part of shaping a positive and hopeful world.  We start with ourselves and with our communities and build from there.” •

Vickie Peters is a writer and editor with expertise in the development of public relations and marketing programs for public entities, private industry, non-profits and community service organizations. She graduated with honors from Cal Poly, SLO, and is working toward an MA in geography with an emphasis in political ecology.

From the Ventura County Star, June 14, 2009:

Group in Ojai looks into local currency
Bartering might insulate town in difficult economy
By Chris Stolz
Sunday, June 14, 2009

Ojai activists are hoping to launch a new form of local money as soon as this year, but no one knows yet what the currency will look like.

Nor have they agreed on what it will be called, its denomination, whether it will be printed on paper or be a plastic debit card or work off an Internet site.

“We have an amazing range of perspectives on what kind of complementary currency would work best, but we all have exactly the same goal,” said Dave Farber, an activist, philanthropist and founding member of the Ojai Economy Group, which has about a dozen members and has been meeting since March. “The goal is not to replace the existing economy but to add a new form of exchange to help develop the community.”

The concept is a sort of bartering system that would encourage people to buy things locally and insulate the town from an economic collapse elsewhere. It would be complementary to the national currency, and use would be limited to Ojai.

To Farber, the most appealing form of a new local currency is based on mutual credit within the community, which could be managed on the Internet.

“Let’s say I’m a pie-maker, and I bake a pie,” he said. “I make this available for 10 Ojai Bucks, or whatever we call it, and list it on the site. That means a person who comes and picks up the pie needs to have 10 Ojai Bucks in credit. In return, I as the pie maker, get 10 Ojai Bucks in credit, which I can then spend in the community.”

Tyler Suchman, another member of the Ojai Economy Group, also likes the mutual credit model.

He stresses that the group has not reached a final decision on its strategy, but does agree on goals.

“Our current economy is based on scarcity and competition,” he said. “We want to see a local economy based on abundance and community and nourishment for all our citizens.”

Suchman cites the “excess capacity” at the local farmers market and at Ojai restaurants as an example.

“If you’re a farmer who harvests arugula, and at the end of the market day you have a lot extra, you might be willing to trade some of that for local currency,” he said.

“If you run a restaurant that might be slow on weeknights, you might be willing to take 50 percent of the bill for two people in local currency. The value of a local currency is significantly connected to how easy it is to spend in town.”

Members of the Ojai Economy Group also think a local currency could help shelter the town from downturns in the national and international economy.

‘Complementary currency’

Stuart Valentine of Fairfield, Iowa, is a financial adviser to the group. He has a large group of clients and friends in Ojai, which he described as a “lighthouse community with a creative edge.”

“We in this country are looking to the Obama administration to hand down a stimulus to the economy,” he said,

“That means we send our tax dollars to Washington, where they go through myriad channels, and come out in the form of a block grant. For every dollar we send, we can expect about 60 cents back. So in reality you get a lot more bang for your buck if you work with your local government and your peers to drive development locally.”

The idea of a local currency is not new. During the Great Depression, when thousands of banks failed, small towns often issued “emergency script” in order to keep the wheels of commerce turning, which in some places evolved into a local currency.

Today, “complementary currency” is found in more than 2,500 localities around the world. Like airline miles and bank checks, a complementary currency is not prohibited by law, and can be legitimately exchanged in many transactions, though it’s not legal tender.

In the U.S., the best-established complementary currency is the BerkShares paper money, which was launched in western Massachusetts in 2006, and has the equivalent of more than $2.5 million in circulation.

The currency can be redeemed for cash at local banks, at 95 cents for one BerkShare dollar, a discount designed to encourage people to spend locally.

Susan Witt, who leads the BerkShares nonprofit group that launched the currency in 2006, agreed with the Ojai Economy Group that the complementary currency could help make a difference in an economic downturn.

“In our region, and probably in Ojai too, you have a lot of people who survive by pulling together multiple jobs in cottage industries,” she said.

“What a local currency does is shine attention on these small businesses. When someone wants a sweater, instead of going online, they might ask who is knitting locally.”

Witt sees paper currency — BerkShares features local heroes such as Herman Melville — as useful in part as a teaching tool.

The Ojai Economy Group isn’t certain it wants to make the currency redeemable for cash, and has not committed to a paper currency.

Nor has the group decided what to call the currency.

“The Ojai?” joked Michael Lindfield, who heads the board of directors at Meditation Mount, a nonprofit center overlooking the valley.

Thayn Whipple, who also works with the Ojai Economy Group, spent two years in Bangladesh setting up a card pay system.

But he has doubts about the viability of a debit card for Ojai at this time.

“To launch a paper currency, it would probably take hundreds of people in Ojai to participate,” he said. “To launch a First World electronic card system would take thousands of people. But I firmly believe that this is something that could become very popular in Ojai, even on a small scale.”

‘A healthy microclimate’

Whipple hopes that Ojai’s experience can become a model for other towns.

“I’d love to see this become a platform that could be used in other communities in Ventura County,” he said. “What a lot of local currency systems have lacked is an infrastructure that can be introduced easily into an existing economy. I’m hoping that we can learn from our mistakes and perfect the process and help other communities benefit from their unused resources.”

In September, the group will host a weekend forum at Meditation Mount on the idea of building a new economy. Lindfield hopes the forum will help the town decide what it wants from a new currency.

“This is more of an inquiry than a prescription,” he said.

“We’re creating a community forum where the people of Ojai can say what they want our community to be and what they are willing to do to have it. If we can create a healthy microclimate financially in this area, we will all benefit.”

From the Pacific Coast Business Times print edition, May 29-June 4, 2009:

Ojai bypassing the buck? Small town looks at having own currency
Written by Sara Hamilton
Friday, 29 May 2009

As the global meltdown continues to put pressure on regional economies, the Ojai Economy Group may have found a way for citizens to keep the area’s economy vibrant, jobs local and economic relationships face to face.

Drawing its inspiration from Western Massachusetts’ successful BerkShares program, the group wants to implement an alternative currency system for the entire Ojai Valley. And they want to do it by year’s end.

“Ultimately we’re focused on doing something that enriches the community using a system based on abundance instead of scarcity,” said Tyler Suchman, one of group’s core members. “A lot of people in the Ojai community have explored the different components and ideas around what a local economy means.”

The particulars haven’t been nailed down yet, but the group said the new system would consist of bartering and an ultra-local currency to encourage and support area business. The city would still accept U.S. dollars at the least.

The unorthodox initiative has already generated a lot of buzz since it was introduced in February, and Suchman said the group’s next step will be examining how to create an infrastructure for the organization.

“Dealing with financial systems can be really complex, and when you’re looking at things like local currency, it takes a fair amount of architecture for those systems to be usable,” Suchman said. “There’s a long way to go, but the response has been really great.”

Craig Allen, president of Montecity Private Asset Management in Santa Barbara, thinks the group may be able to pull it off, but “only because it is such a small community and is off the beaten path.”

Before the program can take flight, Ojai’s 8,000 residents need to be convinced that they’re not trading spendable dollars for Monopoly money.

Allen said the program’s success will hinge on its ability to get people and businesses involved, so the group’s biggest hurdle will be participation.

“There will always be people who refuse to play, no matter what,” he said.

The group hopes its dedication will pay off in September, when it hosts the Ojai Forum, a conference intended to explore new economic models. A few notables have already signed on as presenters, including World Business Academy President Rinaldo Brutoco and Hazel Henderson, author of “Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy.”

“We’re putting a lot of time and energy into the Ojai Forum, and we want to bring in people who are already familiar with the local economy, complementary currency and mutual credit systems,” Suchman said. “We’d like to take the knowledge brought to the forum and apply it to Ojai specifically.”

The group will have a better idea of how to deploy its conceptualized projects after the forum, said Howard Smith, one of the group’s core members and a past chairman of Ventura County Economic Development Association.

Suchman said the handful of successful East Coast-based alternative currencies lend hope to Ojai’s emerging program. The Ithaca region of New York circulates Ithaca Hours, Toronto Dollars alongside the Canadian looney in Toronto and BerkShares are used in Western Massachusetts.

“There are similar programs that started as progressive outsider organizations, but they moved toward working with the established institutions,” Suchman said. “It’s important to involve the established institutions, and we would like to involve all shareholders and partners in community from very get-go.”

The initiative would make it clear that a strong local business economy is deeply connected to healthy environmental, arts, educational and social services communities, Suchman said.

“We basically want to support the lifeblood of Ojai and what it means to be in Ojai and what the very essence of Ojai is.”

From the Pacific Coast Business Times print edition, May 8-14, 2009:

OJAI FIRM PROMOTES ECO-FRIENDLY MONEY

The Ojai Economy Group envisions promoting barter and environmentally-friendly investments as well as a local currency that might get the sort of attention of the “Berkshire Bucks” that have become popular in the Western Massachusetts tourist destination.

Psst. Just don’t tell Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. It might make him a little cranky – or possibly jealous.