Nancy Fitzpatrick of Red Lion Inn, 5/27/09

Nancy Fitzpatrick, who oversees the daily operations of the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, was our guest on Local Biz in May. Nancy is different from our other guests to date in that she is also very involved with several other businesses, including the Elm Street Market in Stockbridge, Jacks Grill in Housatonic, and the Porches Inn in North Adams, among others. She made an excellent guest on Local Biz because all of these businesses enthusiastically accept BerkShares. She is also a partner in the women’s clothing shop Evviva in Lenox and invites their customers to ask them to accept BerkShares as well. They’d be happy to do it if the demand is there.

Nancy and Steffen had a great conversation about how neither of them has ever put any of their BerkShares back into the bank, preferring to spend them and keep them circulating. They both agreed that with very little effort they were able to spend them, which is the ultimate goal. And for the record, they both take in fairly sizable quantities.

Nancy shared that she took her 2008 bonus in BerkShares and then did her Christmas shopping with them. Some of the Red Lion Inn staff does a good deal of business travel, and they all agree to accept at least a portion of their reimbursed expenses in BerkShares. She uses them for advertising, printing, local food from local farmers for her restaurants and more.

In addition to being actively involved in all of the above-mentioned businesses, Nancy is also chair of the Berkshire Creative Economy Council, which strongly supports the very wide-ranging businesses that make up our creative economy and definitely embraces BerkShares.

Listen to the Local Biz show featuring Nancy by clicking on the link below. And as always, if you know of a business owner who trades in BerkShares who you would like to hear on this show, let us know. We’ll see if we can arrange it.
Nancy Fitzpatrick of Red Lion Inn, 5/27/09