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December 11, 2006

The barter economy | Maine Time Banks, which lets members exchange goods and services, tries to attract more businesses to its cashless system

By Kerry Elson
Mary Grant is the only employee at Simply Scandinavian Foods, her small shop in Portland. Five days a week, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., she's working the register and stocking shelves with imports like salt herring and lingonberry jam, with no time to skip out during the day.

So in early October, when Grant needed to get bread from a local bakery to her store, she had to find someone to pick up her order. But instead of spending money on a courier, she joined Maine Time Banks, a Portland-based nonprofit that helps members trade services, from banjo lessons to shiatsu massage. For every hour of service members provide, they earn one "time dollar," which they can exchange for service from another member.
Adapting the system, Grant now exchanges 10 loaves of her Swedish limpa bread for 10 bread deliveries per month, and soon she plans to exchange goods for other services, too, like organizing her recycling. "Being a small-business owner, you try to do everything yourself, but I thought I could use some help," says Grant, who joined the organization at the suggestion of a customer.

Grant is one of a handful of small business owners in Maine who stretch their resources through Maine Time Banks. Originally founded to help low-income people receive services they otherwise couldn't afford, the organization in recent months also has been recruiting businesses, hoping to broaden the services it offers to members. (For more on how time banking works, see "Shop around," below.)

But attracting businesses has been difficult, organizers say. Though Maine Time Banks has grown from 40 members in 1998 to 1,800 at its seven branches between Millinocket and Sanford, it still faces skepticism from those who wonder if they'll get a fair exchange on their time. Some members also are uncomfortable calling strangers to ask for favors (including this reporter, who joined a year ago but has made few transactions). "This isn't an easy sell," says Stuart Ray, executive director of Maine Time Banks.

Still, Ray believes time dollars can be a legitimate currency, one that could help members pay for everything from food to health care. To sell that concept, he says, he needs more businesses to participate. "[Having business members] puts us in concert with the other economy," Ray says. "It gives us credibility because members of that economy can speak to the time bank. They can be a mouthpiece for us."

A new customer base
Maine Time Banks has about 15 business members, most in the greater Portland area. Their numbers are still small ˆ— in part because the organization has kept a low profile, growing mostly through word of mouth. Business owners typically charge one time dollar per service, such as a bike tune-up. In exchange, some spend the time dollars they earn on tasks for their business, such as accounting help.

To entice more businesses to join, Maine Time Banks last month joined the Greater Portland Chamber of Commerce, and bought a $450 insert in the chamber's December newsletter to tout the benefits of membership. The insert highlights members that have used the time bank to jumpstart their business, testing products on members and receiving business services in exchange.

It's a strategy that Donna Norton, owner of Natural Childbirth Alternatives & Hypnotherapy in Casco, has used since joining the Portland Time Bank three years ago. So far, five customers have paid for hypnotherapy with time dollars, spending two for each two-hour session. She spent those time dollars to copy fliers at the time bank office and enlisted members to help with bulk mailings.

But for Norton, joining the organization had benefits beyond those transactions. For one, she says, talking with members who found her name in a directory allowed her to practice marketing her services. "It got me to talk about my business and explain it. I could practice sounding professional," she says.

The time bank also helped increase her paying customer base. Many of her time dollar customers referred people who paid in cash. While Norton says she'd like to see more time dollar customers at her business, she's too far from the city for some. "[Time dollar members] don't see me as much because sometimes they're low-income and transportation is a problem," she says.

Other businesses join Maine Time Banks precisely to reach those low-income customers, though, because the company's goals align with the organization's altruistic mission. True North Health Center, a nonprofit alternative medicine practice in Falmouth, began accepting time dollars in 2001, after medical director Bethany Hays learned about the concept at a conference. "I thought it was the perfect solution to the health care problem," she says.

Joining the organization was a way to diversify True North's clientele, because the practice doesn't accept insurance. Instead, patients pay the full price for a visit, which can cost up to $375 for an initial session with Hays, who offers women's health care and preventative medicine. "We've always been interested in giving people access," says Hays. "Not a lot of people who don't have insurance can pay out of pocket."

Patients with incomes up to 225% of the federal poverty level may pay for services at True North in time dollars, and about 12% of patients do so, usually spending two time dollars per visit. Practitioners have exchanged their time dollars for services like an oil change, or else have donated them to True North, which redeems them for office help.

An unequal exchange?
There's a limit, however, to the number of time dollars a business can accept. Hays says at one point True North offered up to 25% of care for free or for time dollars, but the model wasn't sustainable. Maine Time Banks has assigned a coordinator to make sure members fulfilled practitioners' requests, but the exchange rate doesn't completely balance out. "We probably earn more than we use," says Chris Bicknell Marden, director of marketing and development at True North.

Colleen Kelley, owner of Silly's Restaurant in Portland, had a similar experience when she joined the Portland Time Bank in 2004. At the time, the time bank office was near the restaurant, in the city's Munjoy Hill neighborhood, and Kelley wanted to attract local residents. "I was looking to be part of the community, because I'm a neighborhood restaurant," she says.

At first, Kelley allowed members twice a month to purchase any meal with time dollars. That plan didn't last long, though, because some meals were more expensive than others. Instead, she created a special menu for time dollar members, with most items worth around $10. Even then, she couldn't afford the expense. Though she spent time dollars for small tasks like gardening, cleaning and kitchen prep, she couldn't keep up with demand. "Truthfully it just got too popular," Kelley says. "My business couldn't really absorb it anymore."

In just over a year, she earned more than 650 time dollars, essentially donating about $6,500. "It is a lot of money," she says, adding that she still has about 500 time dollars left in her account.

Kelley didn't want to give up membership entirely, though. Instead, she worked with the organization to create a new option: All time dollar members receive a 10% discount, and new members get their first Silly's meal for free. Now, Kelley says, she can still reach potential customers through the time bank, but in a way that keeps her in business.

Maine Time Banks hopes other businesses will follow Kelley's lead, altering the formula to fit their business. Executive director Ray says he's talking with several different businesses, though convincing them takes time. "These are long, slow walks," he says.

Shop around

1. Prospective members attend an orientation at Maine Time Banks and fill out an application, listing the services or products they wish to offer. The staff will check references before adding a member to the directory.

2. Members check the directory to find a service or product they need. Services are grouped by category, such as interior decorating, aromatherapy or accounting. A member can then contact another member to ask for the product or service.

3. A member who receives a service or product has spent time dollars. The provider, in turn, earns time dollars. Members must call or e-mail the time bank office to record the transaction in their accounts.

4. The office keeps a balance of each member's account, periodically e-mailing an update to members.
Kerry Elson

Trading partners

Back Cove Midwives, Portland
Family Music, Brunswick
The Jade Trade, Portland
Maine Rock Gym, Portland
Natural Childbirth Alternatives & Hypnotherapy, Casco
Northern Chi Martial Arts Center, Brunswick
Percy's Cycle, Portland
Rippling Waters/Backyard Organics, Standish
Silly's Restaurant, Portland
Simply Scandinavian Foods, Portland
The Sunrise Guide, Westbrook
True North Health Center, Portland
Under Locke & Key, Casco
Wild Iris Inn, Portland
Wildwood Medicine, Portland

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