This morning, the AJC uses the Iberian Pig and the strategy of its owner, Federico Castellucci III, to launch into an interesting discussion on revived practice of bartering by businesses in a poor economy.

“In this time, banks aren’t even going to look at us — a new restaurant opening in a nasty recession,” Castellucci said of his family-run Decatur eatery, the Iberian Pig, which opened in October.

But Castellucci, whose family owns two other restaurants in metro Atlanta, built on an existing space on the Square by bartering services with contractors and other vendors.

He financed the opening through future sales and the fee he pays a trade exchange firm based in Lawrenceville, Castellucci said.

Castellucci tells the AJC he was able to barter “a little less than half” of his opening costs.  Impressive.

Business owners: how important is bartering to your business model?  And is it another one of those things that’s easier to arrange in a tight-knit community?