While the wheels of state bureaucracy grind away on how to use stimulus funds and how much of those funds to accept, some communities are taking matters into their own hands.

According to the “Adversity Index,” produced by MSNBC.com and Moody’s Economy.com, 9 out of 10 metro areas in the U.S. are in recession, with 0 areas in recovery. In light of such dire statistics, it’s hard to imagine that there’s anything individuals can do to help get the nation out from underneath the economic crisis.

But in small towns across the U.S., that’s exactly what people are doing: Coming up with ideas that translate into local benefits that will, hopefully, keep their communities alive.

In Colorado, the tiny town of Lamar (pop. 8,500) is paying its citizens to shop locally. People who spend $300 get a $30 gift certificate good at any store in town. In the market for some new (or used) wheels? Buy a car and get $100 worth of gas. Ron Stock, the town’s administrator, told CNN that he got the inspiration for the incentive plan from a time when folks were going through a similar experience:

“I really looked back at what cities had done during the Great Depression,” he says. “I saw that cash had sometimes been very tight and cities had issued scrip to keep the economy going.”

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