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GORDON DANIELS

At a parking lot off Pleasant Street, Kailin Krikorian, 18, of Leicester, arrives for her day of classes at the New England Center for Cosmetology Education in Northampton.

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GORDON DANIELS

Krikorian practices highlighting on a mannequin at the center.

Fifth in a series
NORTHAMPTON - Amy Sikand, a cosmetology instructor, estimates she will save more than $500 in gas expenses over a year when her Northampton employer switches to a four-day work week this fall.

The Agawam mother of a 9-year-old boy will use the money she saves dropping a day's commute to the downtown New England Center for Cosmetology Education to pay for her son's soccer league.

"It seems like it's not much, but it starts adding up to be a big deal," said Sikand, who spends $10 on gas every work day.

"I just love it," said Sikand, noting a future full of three-day weekends. "Other companies should do it. It's going to give me more time with my family."

The center and its sister esthetics program are on the front lines of institutions attempting to relieve their customers and employees of the growing gas burden.

Few have changed

However, while the subject of spiraling gas prices are coloring many conversations in the Pioneer Valley, few businesses, municipalities or schools have made changes yet in how they schedule their days.

There are exceptions in Franklin County. Governments of both Ashfield and Montague are moving to four-day weeks to save heating and fuel costs.

Officials in Shelburne are also considering closing on Fridays to reduce energy use.

"In our market, commuting isn't as big an issue as it is in larger metro areas," said Allan W. Blair, president of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts. "I haven't heard of any innovative new program put in place to address this particular problem yet."

The New England beauty schools will reduce their work weeks from five to four days starting Sept. 8. Students will attend longer classes on fewer days.

Patricia Butterfield, center director, said the decision to make the switch was easy. With students arriving from as far away as Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut, and gas prices hovering around $4 a gallon, Butterfield said she felt compelled to offer her pupils and instructors some relief. Butterfield also touted the anticipated reduction in carbon emissions the center's new schedules should provide.

"In view of what's going on in current economic times this was the right decision," Butterfield said. "I think even if gas prices should decrease again, which I think is highly unlikely, this just makes a lot of sense for the future."

Businesses won't switch

Few Valley businesses will make the switch to a four-day work week because Valley employees rarely travel more than 30 to 40 miles to get to work, Blair said. Also, the operational cost savings of closing a business for a day are unlikely to outweigh the money most companies could earn if they were open.

While not tinkering with the work week, many companies are trying to better schedule how they import or pick up supplies. Instead of making several trips to purchase office supplies, small companies are consolidating these excursions into a single trip. When possible, larger companies are limiting the number of days they accept deliveries.

"In the past (we'd) go to places (we) need to go to, Staples or Wal-Mart, now we combine purchases," said Manuel Garcia, owner of The Core Solution Group, a computer repair service in Northampton. "Most companies now charge a surcharge for deliveries. We try to get what we need (in) one delivery for the month."

The four-day work week seems to best fit organizations with dedicated clients, such as municipalities and schools.

Gas and students

"There has been a lot of noise about gas and students," said David Ram, Greenfield Community College's dean of academic affairs. "This recent gas increase has put pressure in some ways on this conversation; it certainly put more emphasis on it for us."

Over the summer, GCC reviewed its academic schedule, but did not make any changes to offset gas prices. The college has long been aware of the commuting burden put on its students, faculty and staff and has offered two-day courses that meet Mondays and Wednesdays - a unique scheduling option in higher education. Typically, two-day classes are only offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which GCC also provides.

"I suspect people may be selecting to come fewer days," said Ram, who added that enrollment information for the fall semester is incomplete at this time. "I think they're taking as many credits as they would have, but organizing themselves to do it on fewer days."

Blair suggested more companies may be advertising their "flex time" programs, which allow employees to come to work at various times to better fit their personal schedules or to avoid traffic.

Dennis Helmus, director of human resources in Greenfield, said the city is discussing flex time for employees on a preliminary basis.

"We must be open to the public," he said.

Southampton, however, has long embraced the four-day work week.

Southampton has been operating on a shortened week for 15 years, said Town Clerk Eileen Couture. Although it had nothing to do with gas prices, in the early 1990s the town reduced the number of days non-emergency municipal offices would operate to save money.

Couture said the change was a smooth one, with many employees enjoying their three-day weekends. Problems only arise when a resident tries to access the Town Hall on Fridays.

"A lot of people still come in Friday. They get there, and then they remember," she said. "Most of the time it works pretty well."

Other communities

Outside the Valley, there are more people giving four-day work weeks a shot. This summer, Sudbury and Winchester launched pilot four-day work week programs.

In June, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced most non-emergency state agencies would be switching to a four-day week. The move is expected to affect 17,000 employees, who will now work 10-hour days. Utah officials estimate the change, which will go into effect this week, will save the average employee $200 to $300 in gas annually.

The schedule change is also expected to help Utah meet its goal to increase energy efficiency in the state by 20 percent by 2015. To reach that goal, Utah will attempt to reduce its energy use by 16.7 percent.

"The 4-10 work week is one major step toward reaching this goal," said Kim Hood, a spokesperson for the Utah governor's office. "From the six sample buildings we (studied we) found we could reduce carbon dioxide by 3,300 metric tons or the equivalent of removing 612 vehicles from the road annually."

The four-day work week is also expected to save operating costs for the businesses and organizations that employ the schedule.

"That's another plus," said Butterfield, who runs the Northampton cosmetology center. "Over a year or so it might save us a few hundred dollars. Every little bit helps."

Desiree Boucher, a New England Center cosmetology student from Brattleboro, Vt., said she will use her regular three-day weekends to work more hours making sandwiches at her part-time job.

"This is pretty exciting," Boucher said. "Now I can work more and things will be easier for me.

"As long as I'm driving here anyway," Boucher said of her time at the school, "I don't mind being here longer."

Writers Christina Cernak and Ben Williams contributed to this article.