17 Great New Local Investment Opportunities
V.2, N.30
If you’re serious about moving your money out of Wall Street—and you should be—we are going to make it easier for you. In this issue, we break a bottle of fine champagne on a new feature—a regularly updated list of new local investment opportunities across the United States. We will do the work for you by scanning crowdfunding portals, local funds, and other opportunities, listing them in one place. Scroll down, and if you see something interesting near you, click on the hyperlink, study the details, and consider investing. Oh, and feel free to share with your friends too.
We actually have more detailed lists we’re developing on our website here. Over time, we will build out lists around regions and sectors of special interest (like climate, food, or housing). While our newsletter will spotlight offerings unveiled in the last week or two, the website will contain a comprehensive list of everything that’s still available. Our lists right now are, honestly, a work in progress, and we welcome your suggestions about ways of making them more user-friendly.
Of course, we can only publish—by law—what’s available in public investment markets. Lots of opportunities are emerging in private markets as well, and where we find local press on these, we will continue to share the articles.
In our news stories below, you will read about some amazing private market developments around worker ownership. KKR, one of the most cut-throat leveraged buyout firms, has promoted employee ownership in more than 30 of its takeovers, including the $1.6 billion purchase of the Simon & Schuster publishing company. Concerned Capital, a boutique law firm in Los Angeles specializing in worker buyouts, argues that millennials unable to purchase homes should be building wealth by investing in their workplaces. In California, Nick’s Pizza and Bakery in North Oakland and Slow Bloom Coffee in Redlands are the latest fan favorites to convert into worker-owned companies. We also have articles about Hip Hop stars like Killer Mike investing in their original ‘hoods and about the opening of the largest co-housing project in the United Kingdom.
Finally, if you have local investment opportunities that we’ve missed, please send them our way! You may still have good reasons not to invest locally—but not knowing about opportunities will no longer be one of them.
- Michael H. Shuman, Publisher
NEWS
Deal Spotlight: Employee Ownership as a Competitive Advantage, ImpactAlpha (August 18)
Can’t Buy a House? How About Your Workplace? Concerned Capital (August 15)
Nick’s Pizza and Bakery Is Becoming a Worker-Owned Collective, The Oaklandside (July 18)
Baristas in Redlands Lost Their Jobs. Now, They Co-own Their Shop, Los Angeles Times (July 14)
An Underutilized Economic Development Engine: Hip-Hop, Governing (August 1)
Eco-Homes Praised by West Dorset MP at Opening Event, New Start (August 3)
PARTNER VOICES
Action Guide for Advancing Community Wealth Building in the United States, Democracy Collaborative (August 15)
WEPOWER Capital Invests Nearly $250K in St. Louis Black & Latinx-Owned Businesses, Mission Driven Finance (August 3)
NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Below is our list of recently posted local investment opportunities across the United States. Please note that our listing of these opportunities is not an endorsement, and remember that all investments are risky, so click on the hyperlinks and read carefully all the details before investing.
EVENTS
Moose’s Corner: Innovations in Local Business Networks - Virtual Event. Join Michael Shuman (aka “the Moose”) and AMIBA for a monthly deep dive with the best local business networks in the United States. This month’s event—September 21, at 1 pm ET—focuses on People First Economy.
Reimage Main Street: America's Small Business Development Center Annual Conference - In-Person Event. September 5 - 8. Over 200 professional development workshops for SBDC professionals. Register here.
Inspiring Change With As You Sow and Impactphl - In-Person Event. September 13. Learn about shareholder advocacy, aligning your investments with your values, and inspiring change through corporate action. Register here.
SuperCrowdHour: How to Make Money With Impact Crowdfunding - Virtual Event. September 20, at 1 pm ET. Learn how to earn financial returns and not just make a difference with crowdfund investing. Register here.
Democratizing Monetary Issue: Tools for Resilience - Virtual Event. September 21, at 2:00 pm ET. Schumacher Center is convening a monthly series featuring New Economic thinkers, builders, and activists in various fields. Register here.
Neighborhood Economics - In-Person Event. February 26-28, 2024. Event facilitating ongoing conversations across geographies that help people build economic architecture so everyone will thrive. Register here.
ICYMI
Indigenizing Catalytic Capital, First Peoples Worldwide, Integrated Capital Investing, and Croatan Institute
Exit to Community: A Community Primer, Exit to Community
JOBS BOARD
Common Future is hiring for multiple positions
Mission Driven Finance is hiring a Senior Director of Real Estate Asset Management and a Construction Project Manager
FREE SHORT VIDEOS ON LOCAL INVESTMENT
If you want short answers to your most pressing questions about local investment, we have prepared a series of 5-10-minute videos. Find them posted on our website under the “Local Investing Videos” page. Or click on the links below to be directed to videos based on the topic:
BECOME A MAIN STREET CHAMPION
Have you always wanted to start a local investment club? A website of local investment offerings in your community? A local investment study group? Whatever your interest or ambition, we invite you to “go public” to help others in your region find you, scheme with you, and start a local investment movement in your community. We aim to identify dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of Main Street Champions like you across America. We already have Main Street Champions across the U.S., from San Luis Obispo, CA, to Providence, RI, and even Australia! Together, we can move our hard-earned savings from Wall Street back into our communities. Fill out the intake survey below to join this growing cohort!
SOME OF MSJ's VINTAGE ISSUES
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 a grant from the Heron Foundation. We welcome feedback about everything, from our design to content. Also, we welcome suggestions of other groups to involve as partners and additional information to include. Please send ideas to Jen Risley at jen@main-street-journal.com.
PARTNERS
American Independent Business Alliance | Candide Group | Community-Vision Solutions, Benefit LLC | Council Fire | Crowdfund Better | Cutting Edge Capital | Democracy Collaborative | Exit to Community Collective | Fair Food Network | Impact Finance Center | ImpactPHL | Initiative for Local Capital | The Kassan Group | Mission Driven Finance | National Coalition for Community Capital | Natural Investments | Neighborhood Economics | New Majority Capital |. Next Egg | Nonprofit Quarterly | Ownership America | Ownership Matters | Project Equity | Project for Public Spaces | Prospera Partners | Raise Green | Revalue | 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
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.