The REAL deal

In Lawrence, the fastest growing city in Kansas, the north end of Massachusetts Street -- the city's hub -- is under construction. Along the sidewalks, scaffolding and newsprint-plastered windows are signs of new businesses taking over old space. A more aggressive growth is evident in a construction site's exposed steel beams: new space for retail shops. Interspersed among local shops are chain stores that thrive on name recognition, and to some residents, these nationwide or globe-spanning chains are more of an eyesore than the exposed steel beams that herald the arrival of more chains.

Those critics are concerned about the adverse effect such chains have on the community: "In the modern economic climate, we have multinational corporations going in downtown, basically draining the money supply here," says John Cougher, a member of the Lawrence Trade Organization (LTO). "People go and pay $50 for a pair of shorts -- the money is diverted to (the chain's) headquarters, and only a small amount of it is reinvested locally."

Cougher, along with fellow LTO members Kris Olsen and Dennis "Boog" Highberger, is part of the LTO's effort to introduce a local currency for use in Lawrence and the rest of Douglas County as a means of supporting local businesses and slowing the drain of the local economy.

The effort started when an interest in community service projects led Cougher and Olsen to a Web site that listed Highberger -- an administrative attorney -- as a contact for a Lawrence currency project. Olsen knew Highberger from when they both worked at the Kaw Valley Independent, a Lawrence newspaper, and the three met in January to discuss the new local-currency initiative.

"Their enthusiasm was contagious," Highberger says of Cougher and Olsen. "They got me off my butt again." Highberger was involved in discussions of a local currency called Larry/Konza Hours a few years ago, but the project ended when key people moved from the area.

"We thought a currency project was just big enough for us to handle," Cougher says. "We came across Boog's number and it all fell into place."

The LTO project has moved beyond the discussion stages, and the organization is preparing to introduce REAL (Realizing Economic Alternatives in Lawrence) Dollars in the fall. Its members hope the currency will promote community solidarity and local businesses and give Lawrence residents more control over their economy.

REAL Dollars would be valid only in the Douglas County area with businesses that agree to accept them, thus ensuring that local money will stay local. Each REAL Dollar will be issued to businesses and consumers in exchange for a corresponding amount of regular dollars. The local currency will serve as a simple substitute for federal dollars.

The LTO plans to distribute REAL Dollars in $1, $3, and $10 denominations, which will be accepted as either full or partial payment for a purchase. While the images of many local notables are under consideration to adorn the other notes, William S. Burroughs will appear on the $3 note. The decision to put the Beat writer on the bill was tongue-in-cheek, prompting a play on the words "the $3 Bill (Burroughs)."

"We thought it would be a nice way to tribute him," Olsen says. "It gives a new meaning to the $3 bill."

As the LTO accumulates federal dollars in exchange for REAL Dollars, the organization will reinvest money in local business.

"The only thing that gives any currency value is faith," says Highberger, who serves as the LTO legal adviser. The continued circulation of the federal dollar is proof of this statement: "You can't take the federal dollar bill somewhere in the federal government and say, 'Okay, give me my dollar back.' It's not backed by anything."

Lawrence is in a period of growth (from 1998 into early '99, the job growth rate exceeded the population growth rate for the first time in Douglas County history), so economic development officials argue that chains aren't hindering the local economy. While Mike O'Donnell, executive director of Wakarusa Valley Development, an economic development organization that provides small businesses with financing, accedes to the argument that national chains move local dollars elsewhere, "From an economic perspective, it's not a great argument."

Based on Douglas County sales tax collections, in the first three months of this year retail sales were up 17.7 percent over the same period last year.

"If the pie gets bigger by 17.7 percent from all these big businesses coming in, everyone benefits," says O'Donnell.

Director of Economic Development for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Debi Moore agrees, adding that national chains attract shoppers to downtown Lawrence, where they may discover the many local specialty shops.

However, some argue that as more chains locate in Lawrence, the more the city mirrors other communities. They add that chains also increase competition within their chosen market when they enter an area and sometimes force out local businesses.

"The same stuff you can find half an hour away in Johnson County is now being thrown into the mix here," Cougher says, "and it seems unnecessary to me."

It is the individuality of local businesses and the sense of community they foster that the LTO wants to maintain with the REAL Dollars system.