State & Local Investments

The Rise of Community Wealth Building Institutions

Oct 16th, 2013
More people are turning to economic alternatives in which new wealth is built collectively and from the bottom up

Crossposted from Policy Network, and later published on the London School of Economics website, this blog is part of a debate event hosted by Policy Network in London, UK, that was reviewed in OurKingdom by grassroots activist James Doran:    

Five years after the financial crisis economic inequality in the United States is spiraling to levels not seen since the Gilded Age. While most Americans are experiencing a recovery-less recovery, the top one per cent of earners last year claimed 19.3 per cent of household income, their largest share since 1928. Moreover, income distribution looks positively egalitarian when compared to wealth ownership.

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Public Money for the Public Good

Oct 3rd, 2013
How public finances can be unlocked for local economic development
Public banks and credit unions weathered the last crisis much better than private banks, benefiting the communities they served as well. And many experts believe that it’s only a matter of time before the next financial crisis hits. To weather the next one well, we need to ensure that our individual and collective resources strengthen the types of financial institutions that are democratically accountable, economically stable, mission oriented, and that are actively helping build and keep wealth locally in our communities.
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Boulder Gains Momentum in Fight for Green Public Utility

Sep 5th, 2013
Local campaign seeks to hold back corporate efforts to undo election results

Green. Local. Not-for-profit. That’s the goal in Boulder, Colorado where grassroots activists and the local nonprofit New Era Colorado Foundation have been campaigning to turn the city’s private power source into a public utility in order to more aggressively pursue renewable energy options and reduce carbon emissions. Read more about Boulder Gains Momentum in Fight for Green Public Utility...

Democracy Collaborative Offers Paid Internship

Aug 6th, 2013
Work with us on newsletters and community-wealth.org

We are pleased to announce a new intern position at The Democracy Collaborative that will focus on the Community-Wealth.org newsletter and adding web content. For further details, please see the position description below. Remember to submit your applications by August 30!

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The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship

http://www.nussbaumcfe.com

The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship is a nonprofit organization established to promote economic development in Greensboro and the surrounding area.  To do so, it operates a business incubator designed to support new or emerging businesses.  Since its inception in 1987, the Center has graduated 130 businesses, and 80 percent of these have succeeded, a rate well above the national average of 44 percent. Moreover, through a partnership with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Bryan School of Business and Economics, the Center offers an Entrepreneur Assistance Support and Education (EASE) program, which provides graduate-level marketing and accounting interns and discounted graphic design services to local entrepreneurs.  Since its inception in 2006, EASE has provided support to over 100 area companies.

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Community Organizing for a New Economy

Jun 19th, 2013
Democracy Collaborative panel highlights transformative work of community-based organizations

Earlier this month at Left Forum, The Democracy Collaborative helped organize five panels on a variety of different topics related to cooperatives, sustainability and growing a new economy. The last session of the weekend, “Community Organizing for a New Economy,” offered a spirited conversation around some innovative new work that is helping build a new economy.

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Worker Co-op New Era Windows Opens For Business

May 14th, 2013
From sit-down strikes to state subsidies
Photo courtesy of Brendan Martin/The Working World

Last week, the New Era Windows cooperative celebrated its opening in a former Campbell’s Soup building in Chicago, the culmination of a hard-fought struggle by workers to save their livelihoods. Their well-documented struggle began in 2008 when the workers of Republic Windows and Doors occupied the factory to keep it from closing, attracting national attention. Read more about Worker Co-op New Era Windows Opens For Business...

Done Right, Eliminating Food Deserts Result in Community Oases

May 1st, 2013
Building community wealth every step of the way
Pogue’s Run Grocer Mural, an initiative of the Indy Food Co-op. © Indy Food Co-op
Building healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities requires more than “bottom up” solutions. The importance of community ownership to ensure that projects that start at the bottom result in lasting community wealth for the people involved is often missing from the discussion. The local foods movement provides examples that illustrate the importance of this ownership principle in practice.
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Democracy Collaborative Presents to Illinois Governor's Task Force

Apr 19th, 2013
Public session April 24 on community wealth building
Next week in Chicago, Democracy Collaborative executive director Ted Howard will present testimony before the Governor's Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise. The presentation will focus on a set of actionable policy recommendations to help position Illinois as the nation’s leader in community wealth building. The meeting will take place in room 314 at Roosevelt University’s Walter E. Heller College of Business, 430 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, 2013.
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Bernanke Praises Jane Jacobs and Bottom-Up Solutions

Apr 18th, 2013
Fed Chairman calls for community engagement, collaboration and place-based investment

Last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke addressed the Fed’s Community Affairs Research Conference in Washington, DC, opening his speech by acknowledging that successful strategies to rebuild communities require “multipronged approaches that address housing, education, jobs and quality-of-life issues in a coherent, mutually consistent way.”

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Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund

http://www.coj.net/departments/housing-and-neighborhoods/neighborhood-initiative…

The Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund (NWJEDF) is a public fund accessible by existing and prospective businesses in the Northwest Jacksonville area. NWJEDF supports businesses that serve target neighborhoods, create jobs for local residents, and invest in older and underutilized buildings. Loan amounts vary by project, but can exceed $500,000, as long as the City’s contribution is no more than 25 percent of the total project cost.

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Better Jacksonville Plan

http://www.coj.net/departments/better-jacksonville-plan/about-the-plan.aspx

In 2000, The Better Jacksonville Plan (BJP) was approved by Jacksonville voters through a half-cent sales tax to fund a $2.2 billion infrastructure and improvement initiative. The BJP helped construct the new Main Library Downtown, Veterans Memorial Arena, and the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The funds also added sidewalks and preserved environmentally sensitive lands through Preservation Project Jacksonville. Most recently completed in 2012 is the Duval County Courthouse.

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Mayor’s Innovation Meeting

January 15th, 2013 to January 16th, 2013
Washington, DC
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