JOIN THE FIGHT, GET IN THE GAME

IN A FEW SHORT WEEKS, you'll start seeing stickers in the windows of neighborhood businesses, decorated with happy cartoon versions of squirrels, bunnies, and North Portland's Paul Bunyan statue cavorting against the backdrop of a snow-capped Mt. Hood. Inside these marked establishments you can pick up a free Supportland rewards card and immediately jump in the game. Essentially, your card will operate like any other rewards program. Simply have the cashier swipe it at any participating business when you make a purchase, and it will begin to accumulate points. You can find these businesses through the Supportland website (supportland.com), GPS-enabled iPhone app, Twitter feed, Facebook page, or, if you're feeling proactive, just ask.

Because Supportland only contracts with businesses that meet the definition of local as put forth by the Sustainable Business Network of Portland's criteria-privately held, with 50 percent or more of business ownership residing in Multnomah, Clackamas, Columbia, Yamhill, Washington, or Clark County, for instance-it's an easy indicator that you can feel confident your money's going toward sustaining the local economy.

Katrina Scotto di Carlo, who along with her husband Michael hatched Supportland out of their St. Johns house (her background is in visual arts, his in the high tech industry), likes to point to the example of 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea in Seattle-one of a number of Starbucks-deceptively-not-called-Starbucks-as the kind of misleading marketing maneuver Supportland will help undermine. Even in Portland, after months of hosting Supportland seminars in pointedly local cafés, Scotto di Carlo reported her surprise at how many places she'd always assumed were local turned out to be faux local. Supportland is one way to vet the places you patronize without having to do anything more than whip out your card and ask if they'll take it. If they don't, maybe you should ask why.

SHOW ME THE MONEY

MOVING ON FROM THE SHOP-LOCAL warm fuzzies and getting to the points: Like other rewards cards, you accumulate points through purchases, but what makes Supportland unique is that the businesses also have point accounts. A business can attract customers by using its points for an incentive-a bar could offer 10 of their points to customers who buy a draft beer, for instance. To gain back points (and again, get more people through the door), the bar would need to then offer something in exchange for points-like a happy hour appetizer for 20 points.

One of the beauties of the system is that the consumer can be as engaged or disengaged as they wish. You can use the website and various social networking tools to find businesses and their point incentives, searching by product or service or by location. Say you're broke, but rich in Supportland points, and you need a haircut. Theoretically you could search specifically for businesses in your neighborhood offering haircuts in exchange for points (but don't forget to tip with money!), seal the deal online, then walk up the street to collect.

Alternatively, you can put in the minimal amount of effort. Michael Scotto di Carlo was the model for this strategy, as someone who hates dealing with punch cards and coupons or planning around who offers what. All he has to do to benefit from Supportland is make a habit of having his card swiped every time he makes a purchase, and any offer he's eligible for will automatically pop up.

LIFTING UP THE LITTLE GUYS

WHILE SUPPORTLAND IS DEAD SIMPLE from the consumer's perspective, the businesses have more to consider. The Supportland software offers a spectrum of incentive options each business can customize to their immediate or long-term needs, from getting rid of the last of the day's muffins an hour before closing, to teaming up with other businesses for combined offers, or singling out regulars with customized rewards, like a free glass of Côtes du Rhône for every 20 bought by that one regular who always orders the same, specific thing.

Tony Fuentes of Milagros Boutique is one of Supportland's biggest cheerleaders, and one of the 194 businesses and approximately 650 individuals who have pre-registered for the program. As a business owner himself, he enthuses that it "will create a simple way to create incentives. We commonly conduct joint promotions with other local businesses [but] those efforts are ad hoc and sometimes resource intensive. This provides a way to work jointly, but that partnering is simple and passive. Moreover," he adds, "[it] promises to be more than a simple discount card or loyalty program. It gives us the flexibility to create any promotion we want, any time we want. And we can implement that promotion at the speed of type. This is a natural complement for business like ours who are active on Twitter and so forth, and it means that the program will be more exciting and engaging for consumers. I think the staid nature of traditional buy-local programs-[the] discount or promo never changes-limits the excitement and engagement for customers."

Outside of convenience and flexibility, there is marketing power inherent in a shared, computerized platform. Big businesses have long used tracking information gathered through shoppers' rewards cards to hone their strategies, using software that has historically been out of reach for small businesses. Supportland gives their businesses access to those same kinds of metrics, so that they can track specifically how beneficial their promotions are in attracting and keeping customers. (Privacy note: Supportland doesn't make names or addresses accessible, just your Supportland account number.) By banding together, local independents can use the shared tracking software to determine how best to direct their energy, forming a united competitive front against corporate entities, rather than thousands of tiny Davids against a few Goliaths.

Like any entrepreneurs worth their salt, the Scotto di Carlos' sights are set high. The idea is not just to include bars and boutiques and coffee shops, but larger enterprises like steel mills, ad agencies, and construction companies. There'll be computerized point-of-sale technology, but Supportland can also be accessed by iPhone and even in paper-based form, making it available to every guitar tutor, massage therapist, yoga teacher, tailor, and Saturday Market-vending candlestick maker. Ultimately they'd like to expand to other markets in the US, then internationally. In a perfect Supportland future, you'll be able to determine authentic local businesses wherever you travel in the world, cashing in on the points you collected in Italy in China, Africa, or at home.

$$$$

IT'S TEMPTING TO THINK OF SUPPORTLAND as the launch of a new sub-currency-after all, you'll be able to exchange points for goods and services, with an ebb and flow moving between customers and business. Katrina Scotto di Carlo admits that, "while parts of it do act like an alternative currency, it really is a rewards card. Our goal is to keep US dollars circulating locally, not invent our own currency." She continues, "Besides the fact that we are not technically a local currency, we also shy away from the label because the idea of an alternative currency freaks some people [out]. The rewards card is something much more comfortable and mainstream-people are already carrying big box store rewards cards around in their wallets. The bar for entry is a lot lower education-wise than with an alternative currency. We really want every citizen under the sun to be on the Supportland system, not just the alternative currency enthusiasts."

So maybe it's getting ahead of ourselves to imagine a lifestyle where Supportland points negate the need for government-issued currency. After all, if Supportland doesn't catch on with consumers and businesses alike, it will just be one more piece of plastic cluttering up your purse, occasionally scoring you a free cookie. But, just maybe it's the start of something bigger-an opportunity for ordinary people to take control of the economics we've grown accustomed to and that have been dictating our realities. At this point, it's anyone's bet.

- Marjorie Skinner

Enter Supportland LLC, a Web-based rewards card accepted at a network of locally owned businesses. Currently in beta testing, the program will be formally introduced to consumers across Portland this spring.

The company is the effort of the husband-and-wife team of Michael and Katrina Scotto di Carlo of North Portland. The concept was hatched a few years ago, while Michael Scotto di Carlo was a tenured professor at Clark College. As the idea progressed, Scotto di Carlo left his teaching position to work on Supportland full time. The couple have bootstrapped the project thus far.

Supportland is a local currency - one that complements legal tender and seeks to encourage local spending by offering a regionally exclusive trade medium. In order to participate, businesses must meet criteria established by Portland's Sustainable Business Network. Implications include being locally owned, and adhering to the values of sustainable business as defined by the network.

There is no physical backing of the currency. Like traditional reward cards, the exchange occurs electronically in the form of "points." The rewards points work in two directions: business to consumer and consumer to business. A business can offer points when a specific item or service is purchased. In addition, a business can offer an item or service in exchange for points. Points are introduced through new businesses that sign up with Supportland. The system is closed, so points hold no monetary value.

For businesses, membership consists of the following elements:

-$49 monthly membership

-Simple USB card swiper

-Online tracking software and marketing tools

Consumers can also join the program and get access to the following amenities:

-Free card and membership

-Online account

-Smartphone app with proximity map

The program's software was designed from the ground up by the Scotto di Carlos' and a team of volunteers. Although similar to other local currencies - such as the BerkShares in Massachusetts - the Scotto di Carlos said the Supportland program is not directly influenced by any preceding initiatives.

Revenue is derived from the monthly business membership. Additional features, such as expanded research and marketing tools, will be available as add-ons in the future. After the launch, they hope to bring on as many as a dozen employees, including managerial and development teams. If successful in Portland, the team plans to adapt the program model for other communities.

Supportland is currently accepting pre-registration on their Web site for businesses and individuals. The Scotto di Carlos anticipate a city-wide launch in April.

- Mason Walker

social networking with a unique customer rewards card. Scheduled to launch in mid March, they have developed a card system where customers can gain points at one local business and spend them at another local business. All participating businesses will be listed on a map enabled I-phone app so Supportland card holders will know where they can earn points and spend them.

A specialty of the card is that a business can decide on the fly to run a special today for an hour or more and it will immediately ding all the iphone users with in 1/2 mile that have subscribed to the blitz list, plus broadcast it on facebook, twitter and on the Supportland website.

The free card is getting a lot of interest from businesses and consumers and anyone interested in learning more can go to Supportland.com to pre register or see a short video of how the Supportland system works.

- Susan Place

Supportland is kind of like those rewards cards you get at stores like Fred Meyer, except it is used for multiple local businesses. And shockingly enough, it seems like a good system.

Support the economy by supporting local businesses, and if that was not enough of a reward for you, do not fear: The businesses do promotions via the card so that loyal customers can also benefit. Seems like a win-win all around.

Let's face it. Who does not like rewards? And getting the card itself is also free. That is a beautiful price to anyone, but especially college students who are broke anyway and spend way too much money on overpriced classes and textbooks.

Supportland is a point system. Each business on the Supportland network will have at least one incentive for customers who acquire points and one incentive for using those points. Cardholders get these points by making specific purchases at participating businesses.

Each of these businesses will also have specific products that one can buy with the points that they rack up. There is a plethora of ways to figure out just what products cardholders can buy with points. The Supportland Web site is a great resource and you can find Supportland through Facebook, Twitter or even an iPhone application.

This is a new, innovative and great way to get Portland's economy going again. Although Supportland will not solve Portland's economic crisis alone, it will certainly help to revamp it.

With Supportland, the money you spend stays local. And money that is spent in the area then circulates to other local businesses. That money then helps support local businesses, which helps supports local jobs and goes towards local taxes, and so forth.

Unfortunately, now that you are all excited about this exciting new way to support Portland's economy, you will have to wait approximately a month for the card to be released, as they are still in the beta launch phase.

However, according to the website, once Portland is covered, the plan is to attack the greater Portland-Metro area with Supportland-including Southwest Washington.

So hopefully by the end of 2010, one can be supporting local businesses in neighboring communities rather than just the immediate city of Portland.

The key for this to work is Portlanders-we have to make it work. The support of the card will support the local economy. The beauty of this system is that the cardholder knows where their money is going, what it is supporting and if they are a frequent shopper, they very likely know the people and the jobs that they are supporting.

This whole idea is much better than those rewards cards that support big businesses like Fred Meyer, because Supportland is backing local business. Thus, it is helping the local economy. Our economy. And everyone knows that our economy needs help.

- Meaghan Daniels

Cardholders earn and spend incentive points by shopping at businesses throughout the network. The card lets consumers earn points at one location and spend them network-wide.

The idea, owners Katrina and Michael Scotto di Carlo say, is to create a web of homegrown businesses that gives mom-and-pop shops the power to compete with big-box stores.

Michael Scotto di Carlo left his job teaching technology courses at Clark College to design the system. The cards also generate sales feedback to businesses. Supportland anonymously tracks sales and spending patterns at members stores to provide owners with the type of information that large corporations use to determine spending and marketing campaigns. Business owners pay a monthly fee to participate, but the card is free to consumers.

About 50 North Portland businesses participated in the launch. The Scotto di Carlos hope to go city-wide by the end of 2010 and eventually take the plan nationwide.

Later this year, Supportland will introduce an iPhone application that lets users search and map participating stores and track their points.

Cards are available online at supportland.com.

- Holly Goodman

This unique system is based on Supportland points. Consumers can acquire points from local businesses and spend points for products and services by using the Supportland Card or iPhone app. The type of products and services offered will vary as greatly as the Supportland network itself, which has been designed to serve everyone from individual tutors to large local grocery stores. To expedite the consumer experience, all incentives will be automatically filtered with location-based technology via the website or iPhone app.

The Supportland Card is free and can be picked up at any participating businesses or ordered online at Supportland.com. Consumers can immediately start using the card at any businesses displaying a Supportland window sticker, or they can register their card through the Supportland website or iPhone app to get real-time and web-exclusive incentives.

"We're still a few months from a city-wide launch and already the enthusiasm is palpable," says Supportland owner Katrina Scotto di Carlo. "Small businesses are excited to have a level playing field with the huge chains, and Portlanders are stoked that buying local will be easier. We have so much technology around us, it's about time it was affordable to everyone."

The beta launch is set for January 1, 2010, and will focus primarily on local businesses in the St. Johns neighborhood. Supportland will soon expand the incentive program to businesses throughout Portland and the surrounding area. Local businesses that sign up prior to the beta launch will receive select perks.

Consumers and business owners can now go to Supportland.com to read Twitter feed, get a sneak peak of the site's woodsy design featuring Kenton neighborhood's Paul Bunyan, and view a short video that explains the Supportland system. This network is designed to benefit both consumers and business owners by incentivizing local consumption and solidifying a local customer base. It promises to bring local consumers and local businesses together in an unprecedented way, building on the dedication to localism and community that already pervades Portland.

Supportland is owned and operated by Katrina and Michael Scotto di Carlo. The Scotto di Carlos founded Supportland out of a common desire to see the local business community thrive. They combined their talents in design and programming with the talents of many volunteers, to create a service that embodies the unique spirit of Portland. They are committed to preserving and cultivating that spirit.

Contact:
Katrina Scotto di Carlo
Supportland LLC
8316 N Lombard St #440
Portland OR 97203
503-283-0012
katrina@supportland.com
supportland.com