Are You a Lover or a Fighter?
V.2, N.54
Every spring, when I teach an MBA class called “Sustaining Mission,” I notice an interesting pattern. My mostly politically progressive students express love for unions—except in their own companies. And when I suggest that adjunct professors like me might go on strike for better salaries and job security, they get nervous about the potential disruption to their $50,000-per-year education. This could be seen as rank hypocrisy. But I view it as a growing discomfort with the old model of fighting management to bring fairness into the workplace. And their instincts, like mine, are closer to Michael Jackson’s famous line to Paul McCartney, “I’m a lover, not a fighter.”
Count me as a lover. Many of us in the MSJ community are increasingly sold on the power of ownership rather than the old confrontation model of labor—worker ownership of their business, consumer ownership of their shops, resident ownership of their homes, and local ownership of everything. Ownership puts us in the driver’s seat, where we can take responsibility for the destiny of more institutions in our lives. It gives us another path to creating wealth for ourselves and our children. And it is entirely nonpartisan, exciting conservatives and progressives alike.
In this issue of The Main Street Journal, we have two primers on options for investing in pro-ownership funds. Curt Lyon and Julie Menter from Transform Finance describe fifty-three funds with $1.6 billion in assets that finance employee ownership in the United States and Canada. And Mark Hand and Tiffany Vargas put together a short compendium of traditional and cutting-edge ownership models that are especially relevant for communities of color.
Also in this issue:
How Meld Studios in Australia engineered a buy-out by its workforce.
The story of two new investment funds—the Black Farmer Fund and the Moonsoon Fund—supporting a new generation of African-American farmers and Indigenous land buybacks.
Another warning against using SAFEs for crowdfunding investments.
This is also your last issue for a couple of weeks. We own our publication—and we’re giving ourselves a two-week vacation. See you in September!
~ Michael Shuman, Publisher
NEWS
Primer for Investors: Branching Into Employee Ownership, ImpactAlpha (August 8)
Shared Ownership for Business Owners of Color, Employee Ownership + Workplace Democracy (August 1)
Employee Ownership in Australia, Forbes (August 12)
Reclaiming Land Ownership in Black and Indigenous Communities, Nonprofit Quarterly (July 31)
How Safe Is a SAFE? Superpowers for Good (July 31)
Jump to a Section:
✔️ News from NC3
✔️ Partner News & Voices
✔️ Events
✔️ Jobs Board
✔️ Asks
WHAT YOU MISSED IN LAST WEEK’S MSJ EXTRA!
SPONSOR CORNER
The National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3) is dedicated to educating, advocating, and activating community capital—and serves as MSJ's fiscal sponsor. Thank you for being a part of a growing movement! Contact NC3 for support integrating local investing in your work: info@nc3now.org.
NC3 UPDATES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
NC3 is at Michigan State University's Innovate Michigan! Summit, which is happening today, Thursday, August 15th. It is "a full-day event featuring presentations on innovative economic development tools, models, policies, practices, student technical assistance projects, and Michigan inventions." Watch the event trailer here and stay tuned for updates.
NC3 would like to thank our first group of summer interns for all they contributed to our work over the past several months. Lyla Miller, a student at Duke University, supported our Accelerator and Educational Programs while also aiding in data collection and research to support the community capital movement. Garrett Jin, a student at Michigan State University, worked steadily on in-depth policy research to support our advocacy work. Jenna Sahlab, also a student at Michigan State University, has beautifully supported all of our Communications work, from generating marketing materials to helping facilitate our Communications Committee's work. Jenna will continue her internship through the coming school year due to the support of MSU's Center for Regional Economic Innovation. Thank you, MSU, for this support, and thank you, Summer Interns, for your time and efforts—we wish you all the best!
A community group in Petoskey, MI, is working to become one of the first Diversified Community Investment Funds launched through the National Coalition for Community Capital's Accelerator Program. In order to create a more robust and resilient economy for all, NC3's Accelerator Program supports communities in building a local investing ecosystem. In supporting local investing opportunities, we are strengthening local economies through the recirculation of capital within communities and directly to Main Street businesses and community-led development initiatives. By engaging community members in investing locally, we are fostering local wealth-building opportunities for all.
Petoskey's story began when a group of community advocates convened to initiate community-based projects, including workforce housing, ecotourism, and local businesses. The group identified several potential projects to support and has focused recently on a 24-unit apartment building as the starting project for local economic transformation. In 2022, the group reached out to NC3, and after a series of meetings in partnership with a local foundation, the effort secured administrative funding to move the project forward. In 2023, NC3 conducted a site visit and met with community leaders over three days to map the path forward. Since then, the group has been working through the details of what type of organizational structure would be optimal for the fund. They determined the best path forward was to create a nonprofit cooperative called InvestMitt. They are now seeking 501(c)(3) status and exploring the details of creating the fund and initiating the related capital raises and investments. Stay tuned for more updates on InvestMitt!
PARTNER NEWS & VOICES
Solving for X, Neighborhood Economics (August 9)
Climate Adaptation Bonds, ImpactAlpha (August 5)
Capital Impact Partners: A Case for Fair Finance, Natural Investments (July 26)
Summer Updates: Mission Driven Finance (July 23)
NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Our complete list of recently posted investment opportunities has moved to MSJ Extra! As a teaser, here is an offering from our list. (Please note that our listing of these opportunities is not an endorsement. Remember that all investments are risky, so click on the hyperlinks and read all the details carefully before investing.)
Neighborhood Sun (Silver Spring, MD) - Wefunder: Efficiently manages community solar projects for developers and community solar subscriptions for residents and small businesses (Certified B Corp).
NOTABLE NEW RESOURCES
Community Capital Live: Olivia Watkins of Black Farmer Fund, Mindful Marketplace (August 14)
Investing in Employee Ownership: Overview For Mission-Oriented Investors, Transform Finance (August 8)
Emerging Cooperative Economy: Reshape the Global System By 2050, Co-op News (August 1)
Latino Loan Funds Supporting Latino Business Owners, Next City (July 31)
Localization Strategies Updated, Relocalise Northern Rivers (August 2)
MSJ EVENTS
Community Capital Live: Micha Josephy and Josie Shagwert of Cooperative Fund of the Northeast - Virtual Event: August 28, at 2 pm ET
MORE EVENTS
How to Invest in Employee Ownership - Virtual Event: August 20, at 12 pm ET
Creative Farmland Access through Self-Directed IRAs - Virtual Event: August 27, at 1 pm ET
Feminine Futures - In-Person Event (UK): September 1 -2
Prosperity Summit: Mobilizing Our Collective Power Toward Economic Justice for All - In-Person Event (National Harbor, MD): September 4 - 6
Financial Activism 101: Moving Money And Power - Virtual Event: September 10 and 11, at 3 pm ET
United We Work: 2024 Worker Co-op Conference - In-Person Event (Chicago, IL): September 12 - 14
Entrepreneur Finance Workshop Series - Virtual Event: Starts September 17, at 2 ET
National Center for Employee Ownership Fall Forum - In-Person Event (Indianapolis, IN): September 18 -20
JOBS BOARD
Common Future: Chief Operating Officer, Controller, Fund Development Manager, and Fundraising Relationship Specialist
Fair Food Network: Investment Manager and Portfolio Manager
Institute for Local Self-Reliance: Energy Democracy Initiative Senior Researcher
Project Equity: Head of Finance and Administration and Manager of the Project Management Office
Sheterforce: Development Director
ASKS
If you or your community has a project on local investment or local economies that needs help, please let us know. We invite our readers to assist each other.
Lauren Gellatly from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is researching private equity impacts on local economies and independent businesses to include in a comment letter for the FTC's Request for Information on Serial Acquisitions and Roll-Up Strategies Across the U.S. Economy. Please share any examples of Main Street industries impacted by private equity roll-ups. Examples on their radar include child care, funeral homes, car washes, dentists, veterinary practices, plumbing, and other household services. They also need small business stories from impacted industries. Contact ILSR at lauren@ilsr.org.
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About The Main Street Journal
The Main Street Journal aims to catalyze the movement of $50 trillion from Wall Street to Main Street to facilitate economic development and economic justice. It’s sponsored by the National Coalition for Community Capital, with grants from the Heron Foundation, Wallace Global Foundation, and the Bondi Foundation. We welcome feedback about everything, from our design to content. Please send ideas to Jen Risley at jen@main-street-journal.com.
Our Team:
Michael Shuman – Publisher
Jen Risley - Editor
Wendy Wasserman - Strategic Advisor
PARTNERS
Abrams+Angell | American Independent Business Alliance | Candide Group | Capital for Change | Capital Institute | Community-Vision Solutions | Council Fire | Crowdfund Better | Crowdfund Capital Advisors | Democracy Collaborative | Exit to Community Collective | Fair Food Network | Impact Finance Center | ImpactPHL | Initiative for Local Capital | Institute for Local Self-Reliance | The Kassan Group | Mission Driven Finance | National Coalition for Community Capital | Natural Investments | Neighborhood Associates | Neighborhood Economics | New Majority Capital | Next Egg | Nonprofit Quarterly | Ownership America | Ownership Matters | Partnership for Southern Equity | PathLight Law | Project Equity | Project for Public Spaces | Prospera Partners | Raise Green | Revalue | Rising Tide Capital | Schumacher Center for a New Economics | Shelterforce | Slow Money | SOCAP | Sun Valley Institute for Resilience | The Super Crowd Inc. | Transform Finance | Uwharrie Bank | Village Well | Zebras Unite
We welcome any nonprofit or for-profit committed to local investment as a partner. If your organization is interested, please contact Jen Risley at jen@main-street-journal.com.