Don't Let the Global Grinch Steal Christmas
V.2, N.37
As you fill up your holiday goodie bag, ask yourself whether the person you love would better appreciate a stronger community over another trinket mass-produced in Asian sweatshops. In 2022, the average holiday shopper spent $823 on gifts. If you live in a small city of 100,000 people (and let’s assume that half are shoppers), that’s $41 million available to spend at local and community-based businesses. And that’s a lot of dough we usually leave on the holiday table.
Our first story is about Jessica David, co-founder of Local Return, who offers myriad ways Rhode Islanders can celebrate the holidays by contributing to community projects, donating to local charities, and buying gifts from local artisans. Check out Local Return’s 30+ Options for Investing in Our Community to find strategies you might apply in your community. David and her colleagues are also developing a new local investment fund that will soon provide even more holiday-giving choices.
If you live in Philadelphia, one of your gift options could be to put as little as $100 into housing projects developed by Shift Capital. Your gift recipient can literally own a piece of the neighborhood.
And how about giving more to our communities by moving more of your money into community-owned banks and credit unions? The probability of such a dollar getting reinvested in a local business is three times greater than a dollar put into a big global bank. You can read about the virtues of local banks in the article on the Brooklyn Credit Union, which is one of the most important underwriters of small businesses in the New York borough.
We also have articles calling out civil rights organizations for embracing big banks more than small ones, describing the spread of cooperatives in Western North Carolina (in Forbes, no less!), and exploring the special value of cooperatives in home health care and social services.
Finally, I want to offer our own thanks for two recent gifts from the Wallace Global Foundation (thank you, Ellen Dorsey) and the Bondi Foundation (thank you, Tom Bible), which will ensure our continued growth over the coming year. And to Wendy Wasserman, our strategic advisor, who is about to travel around the world for a year (bon voyage!). Also, thank you to our many readers who have donated as well. If you want to join them, please click here to give.
We will publish our next issue during the first week of January. And a quick reminder that starting then, we will publish the MSJ Extra! every other week for paying subscribers. This will include our listings of local investment opportunities, interviews, and other features. Please click below to subscribe.
NEWS
A Wicked Meaningful Rhode Island Gift Guide, The Boston Globe (December 4)
Crowdfunding Community Development, The Philadelphia Citizen (November 27)
How a Small Brooklyn Credit Union Punches Above Its Weight, Next City (December 5)
The Curious Partner in Big Banks’ Drive to Weaken Capital Rules, The American Prospect (November 29)
Worker Ownership and the New Appalachian Economy, Forbes (November 29)
What if Social Care Was a Path to Ownership?, Solidarity Hall (November 28)
PARTNER VOICES
Wealth Supremacy Mindset on the Way Out, Neighborhood Economics (November 30)
Unlocking the Power of Employee Ownership in the East Bay, Project Equity (November 22)
Advancing Resident Ownership in Housing Credit Properties, Shelterforce (November 21)
NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Below is our list of recently posted 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 all the details carefully before investing.
NOTABLE NEW RESOURCES
The Cleveland Model with Stephanie McHenry, The Community Wealth Canada Podcast (December 4)
Linda Best and FarmWorks Investment Co-operative Limited, The Just Good Business Podcast (November 27)
EVENTS
Next Economy MBA: Meet the Facilitators & Interactive Q&A - Virtual Event. December 18, at 3 pm ET. A summary of the core concepts covered in the training. Register here.
SuperCrowdHour: Building Stronger Communities with Investment Crowdfunding - Virtual Event. December 20, at 1 pm ET. Funding Hope’s CEO, Dorian Dickinson, will discuss the power of investment crowdfunding in building stronger communities. Register here.
Regenerating Local Food Economies: Feeding Eight Billion - Virtual Event. December 21, at 2 pm ET. Featuring three activists advancing just, sustainable farming practices through organizing, education, and innovation. Register here.
Closing the Racial Wealth Gap by Shifting Ownership - Virtual Event. January 31, at 1 pm ET. Featuring Smitha Das of World Education Services and Santhosh Ramdoss of Gary Community Ventures. Register here.
Neighborhood Economics - In-Person Event. February 26-28. Facilitating ongoing conversations across geographies that help people build economic architecture so everyone will thrive. Register here.
SuperCrowdBaltimore - In-Person Event. March 21. Learn to invest like a pro and raise money for your small business or social enterprise. Register here.
ICYMI
What Is a Community Development Corporation?, Frank Woodruff, Nonprofit Quarterly
Building a Democratic Local Economy, European Municipalist Network
The State of Community-Based Development Organizations, The Urban Institute
JOBS BOARD
Employee Ownership Expansion Network is hiring a Director of Non-Profit Operations
Mission Driven Finance is hiring a Senior Investment Analyst, an Investment Management Vice President, a Real Estate Asset Management Senior Director, and a Fund Operations Manager
Project Equity is hiring a Policy & Impact Manager
Small Business Anti-Displacement Network is hiring a Project Coordinator
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 US, from San Luis Obispo, CA, to Providence, RI, and even Australia! Together, we can move our hard-earned savings from Wall Street into our communities. Fill out the intake survey below to join this growing cohort!
CHAMPIONS BY STATE
AZ | CA | CO | DC | FL | GA | HI | IA | IL | IN | KY | LA | MD | ME | MN | MI | MT | NC | NH | NE | NY | OH | OK | OR | PA | RI | SD | TX | VA | VT | WA | Australia | Belgium | Canada | India
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
Abrams+Angell | American Independent Business Alliance | Candide Group | Community-Vision Solutions, Benefit LLC | Council Fire | Crowdfund Better | Crowdfund Capital Advisors | 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 Associates | 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 | 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.