ITHACA — As has always been the case, Ithaca HOURS aren't backed by gold, silver or any other commodity.

“Ithaca HOURS is backed by our relationships,” said Rebecca Nellenback, HOURS board member. “That's what we want our town and our community to be.”

HOURS users and those interested in joining will celebrate that fact at an annual meeting next Wednesday, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center. The whole community is invited to learn about the local currency system, join at a discounted rate and, for current members, elect new board members.

It'll also be a chance to promote the local nonprofit's Web site, ithacahours.org, which recently went on the upswing by hiring a Web specialist. Board of Directors President Stephen Burke said they're in the process of getting the 800-plus member directory on the Web, in part because of the worldwide attention HOURS continues to receive.

For example, just last year a representative from Japan's Ministry of Finance stopped in Ithaca to talk to Burke about HOURS before boarding a plane to Washington for his next pit stop — with U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

“That's how seriously they were considering our local currency,” Burke said.

Circulating in Ithaca now is about $100,000 worth of Ithaca HOURS, which translates to 10,000 HOURS, according to Burke. In recent years, the program has grown to the point where, at some businesses, employees can be paid part of their salary in HOURS.

At ABC Cafe on Stewart Avenue, employees can opt to be compensated an HOUR in exchange for an hour of labor. An HOUR of labor ends up slightly more than an hour's wage in regular money, explained owner Ken Hallett. It's only about 1 percent of the payroll that chooses that option, but it's enough so that the restaurant, just two years ago, started giving customers the option of purchasing entirely in HOURS.

“I think it was once we realized there were enough outlets for using them,” Hallett said. “The idea of using local currency, and having it staying in the community, was attractive.”

Another boost for HOURS has been the availability of $2,000 to $5,000 worth of interest-free HOURS loans, which have bolstered small businesses and also infused relatively large sums of HOURS into the community at once, Burke said.

In general, encouraging people to earn and spend locally is, and always has been, the goal of Ithaca HOURS, according to Burke. It creates local wealth while freeing up one's own money for savings.

“It's definitely a community spirit thing,” said Burke, who owns Small World Music on State Street and, of course, accepts HOURS. In America, “money is so divisive,” Burke said.

“We want to turn that completely on its head,” he said.

Featured Press Release:

2005 Annual Meeting & Dessert Bash

Close to 65 people (not including the many children who had a great time) attended the 2005 Annual Meeting and Dessert Bash held October 26 at GIAC.

Everyone enjoyed the delectable desserts, cider and apples provided by our member businesses (ABC Cafe, Eve's Cidery, Gimme! Coffee, GreenStar, Ithaca Bakery, Juna's, Just Desserts, La Cocina Latina, Littletree Orchards and Macro-Mama).

Steve Burke, President of Ithaca Hours, provided an informative annual report and Webmaster Dave Makar talked about developments with the new website.

In addition to many membership renewals, there were 23 new memberships taken out. Recommended for two-year terms to the Board of Directors were Bill Chaisson (new member), Aron Gutman (new member) and Monica Hargreaves (returning member). They will join Steve Burke, Bob LeRoy and Rebecca Nellenback (LeGrace Benson is on leave for a year).