Tree · Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA
BerkShares
A 20-year-old local paper currency for the Berkshire region of Massachusetts.
Since 2006Works across the regionBerkshires · Housatonic River valley
- local currency
- complementary currency
- peer to peer
- buy local
- new economics
BerkShares Local Inc. is a non-profit that issues BerkShares, a local currency exchanged 1:1 with US dollars at participating bank branches and spent at hundreds of Berkshire businesses. Launched in 2006 with research support from the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, it keeps spending circulating among independent local businesses.
The notes carry portraits of regional figures such as W.E.B. Du Bois and Herman Melville. The organisation still runs a monthly Business of the Month spotlight (September 2026: Berkshire Mountain Inn) and appointed new board members in 2026.