How Do We Support Local Businesses?
Benefits of a trade exchange to local businesses include:
- Increase profits by decreasing overhead through making purchases with trade credits (Sand Dollars) instead of cash, and bringing in new business by accepting trade credits as full or partial payment.
- Easier liquidation of excess/obsolete items
- Increased buying power, by giving you the power to create capital when you need it, without paying interest.
- An enhanced personal lifestyle, through using trade credits to make purchases for personal use.
- Share the abundance with your employees by giving them trade credits as bonuses or to increase salaries.
- Enjoy a stronger sense of community, and a reputation for being a business who cares.
In New Earth Exchange, only locally owned businesses offer goods and services We define a local business as one who meets at least one of the following criteria:
1. At least 25% of the business is owned by one or more residents of Santa Cruz County.
2. At least 50% of the business is owned by a single individual or family who lives in an adjacent county, and spends an average of at least 10 hours per week in Santa Cruz County.
3. The business provides such a level of financial, social, or environmental advantage to Santa Cruz County that at least 50% of our members agree that they should be given “Honorary residential
status.” A business must apply to our governing board, and answer all of its concerns, before being given the opportunity to be considered by the general membership.
In addition to being “local,” all business or service members must agree to abide by our statement of environmental responsibility, so that customers will know that they are making an effort to move in the direction of a more environmentally resilient world.
Business members each have their own space within our web site, where they can highlight the goods and services that they offer, their policy on accepting Sand Dollars, any specials that they are currently running, and any environmental or social practices that they would like their customers to know about. New Earth Exchange considers service providers of all types to be “businesses,” and they are treated as such by our system.