Philadelphia declares banking Independence!
V.1, N.20
Our top story, from the American Banker, is that the Philadelphia City Council voted on March 3rd 15-1 to become the first U.S. municipality to create a public bank. The goal is not to compete with local banks and credit unions, but to use city money – through loan guarantees and other credit enhancements – to expand their ability to lend to BIPOC businesses. The city has yet to finalize how it will finance the venture, but it might consider offering micro-bonds issued in small denominations for local grassroots investors. This is similar to the Green Bank in Connecticut which offers support to solar installation programs. Public-banking advocates in California are now exploring micro-bonds to seed their planned public banks throughout the state.
Another article explains why local ownership of mobile home parks (MHPs) is so important. In recent months we have tracked this story in New Hampshire, where the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund has helped thousands of residents stabilize their rents through local ownership. The NH State Senate had considered a bill that would have upended this effort but pulled back after realizing it faced significant public opposition. Roughly eight million Americans live in MHPs that are not locally owned and face massive, unpredictable rent increases every year. As hedge funds buy up MHP properties, this problem is only going to get worse. Given how ubiquitous MHPs are around the country, localization efforts are an incredibly important local investment opportunity in almost everyone’s backyard.
We also have articles on how Cedar Rapids, Iowa is leading the way in locally owned restaurants, and a growing list of worker-owned coop eateries in the San Francisco Bay Area.
And in case you missed the announcement in our last issue….
TheMainStreetJournal.org is live!
Here you can find our archive of past issues, an expanding roster of Main Street Champions, and our list of partners. If you want to grow your community’s local investment ecosystem, learn more on our website or by clicking the button below.
– Michael Shuman, Publisher, The Main Street Journal
NEWS
How Philadelphia Is Laying The Groundwork For A Public Bank, American Banker (March 22)
Co-op Ownership Puts Mobile Home Residents On Solid Ground, Co-op News (March 14)
13 Cooperatively-Owned Restaurants, Bakeries, & Markets In The Bay Area, Eater (March 17)
Locally-Owned Restaurants Now Outnumber Chains In Cedar Rapids, The Gazette (March 14)
PARTNER VOICES
CoPeace: A Pioneering Impact-Focused Holding Company, Cutting Edge Capital (March 23)
How To Choose An Equity Crowdfunding Platform, The Kassan Group (March 17)
How A Small Business Development Center Promoted Employee Ownership, Project Equity (March 15)
EVENTS
What IS Retirement Anyway? – Webinar by the Next Egg. Monday, April 4, 2-3:15 ET. What does retirement look like in the world we want to create?
Remaking the Economy: How to Design Democratic Management – Webinar by Nonprofit Quarterly. Thursday, April 14, 2pm ET. This webinar will feature three worker-owners in worker cooperatives, who will discuss both the joys and the challenges of managing workplaces democratically.
Total Impact Summit 2022: Investing For New Economies – In-Person Conference by ImpactPHL with SOCAP. May 16-17 at Convene Center City in Philadelphia. This two-day summit is for individual and institutional investors, fund managers, and financial advisors to learn about local and global innovations, discover investable solutions, deploy capital, and generate social impact. Register here and use code SHUMAN to take $300 of the current price.
ICYMI
The New BerkShares App For Digital Currency, BerkShares (March 23)
The Advantages Of Crowdfunding, Bake Magazine (March 15)
What Is a Credit Union?, The Ascent (March 14)
JOBS BOARD
Fair Food Network is seeking a Director of Institutional Funding, Business Operations Manager, Senior Director of Impact Investing, and Program Ambassador.
Mission Driven Finance is hiring a range of positions. See all open jobs here.
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. Our goal is 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 first cohort!
SOME OF The MSJ’s VINTAGE ISSUES
NH Senate considers strangling local investment in affordable housing
How San Franciscans secured $9.4 million in affordable housing 🌁
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. And we welcome suggestions of other groups to involve as partners, and other information to include. Please send ideas to Sophia Leswing at sophia@main-street-journal.com.
PARTNERS
We welcome any nonprofit or for-profit committed to local investment as a partner. If your organization is interested, please contact Sophia Leswing at sophia@main-street-journal.com.
Check out our new website! TheMainStreetJournal.org