by Hans Eisenbeis
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- OurGoods, a New York community bartering network, has established a night school that offers adult continuing education to students in exchange for barter items the teacher might want.
- One example: A writing instructor would like more locally grown organic produce. Students wishing to take her class can sign up to bring a nice basket of in-season vegetables.
- Grand Opening Public Projects is a pop-up storefront in Manhattan’s Lower East Side that’s hosting Trade School classes from January to March 2010.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- Bartering has received new attention and popularity during the Great Recession as consumers look for creative ways to cut back on spending without necessarily giving up on life.
- Barter can also build social capital — in other words, create new friendships — where money cannot.
RESOURCES
- Trade School at Grand Opening in New York
