Dave Long of Maiden Flower Farm, 8/26/09

Dave Long, a local business owner and strong supporter of BerkShares was our guest on Local Biz for August. Dave is co-owner with Asa Hardcastle of Zenn New Media, a software company located in Great Barrington, and also operates a small family farm in Housatonic with his family, called Maiden Flower Farm. Both businesses accept BerkShares and Dave and family have no trouble whatsoever spending the BerkShares they take in.

Dave has a long-standing understanding of and appreciation for local currencies and a locally supported economy that began in the 1980s when he met and spent a great deal of time with Bob Swann and Susan Witt, who founded the E.F. Schumacher Society in South Egremont. He was involved with the first local currency effort in the southern Berkshires, the Deli Dollars created to help Frank Tortoriello, proprietor of the beloved Deli that was in Great Barrington for so long, to help with the expense of moving the location of his restaurant in Great Barrington. Despite the widespread global media interest at the time, that effort didn’t take, so when the current program of BerkShares was launched Dave immediately became a strong proponent.

Listen to the Local Biz show featuring Dave 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.
Dave Long of Maiden Flower Farm, 8/26/09