The Deli Lama of Ann Arbor
V.2, N.16
Zingerman’s Community of Businesses (ZCoB), has been a local food pioneer since it first opened its doors as a small delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan over four decades ago. Now, ZCoB currently collectively employs 750 Michiganders, and has annual sales of $78 million. The network has a dozen distinct locally owned companies unified under the common brand identity of the “ZingTrain”. ZCoB’s story illustrates how local businesses can scale and become highly profitable without sacrificing their local roots. The company is breaking new ground again by establishing a Perpetual Purpose Trust (PPT) to benefit its employees.
A Perpetual Purpose Trust is a relatively straightforward idea – protect a company’s identity and intellectual property by putting all the shares into an entity that cannot be sold, merged, or sold out. It can also help with succession planning. Our lead story describes how and why ZCoB is deploying a PPT strategy to put all of its intellectual property into a new entity that over time will be owned by its employees. Within 20 years, the company expects that more than half of the profits generated by the intellectual property will be paid to employees.
Successful local business people across the country… take note! The Perpetual Purpose Trust enables you to keep your company on mission while you gradually cash out with a good retirement. ZCoB isn’t the only one. Patagonia has done the same thing too!
Also in this issue you will find four other great stories: a podcast about how employees of a landscaping business in El Paso, Texas are about to buy out the company thanks to financing from Apis & Heritage Capital Partners; how Organic Farm Partners is inviting accredited investors to help farmers convert to more profitable organic crops; how the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union has developed a “bank on wheels” to bring basic services to distant parts of the Bronx; and how 17 families in Madrid collaborated to create a co-housing community for themselves.
All told, the State of the Local Investment Movement is strong!
– Michael Shuman, Publisher, The Main Street Journal
NEWS
A Perpetual Purpose Trust For Intellectual Property, Zingerman’s (February 2023)
Where The Employees Bought The Landscaping Business, Next City (February 3)
Organic Farm Partners To Make Organic Farms Available As Fractional Investments, Cision (January 31)
A Mobile Bank On Wheels Reaches Bronx Residents Where They Are, Next City (January 24)
Entrepatios: Cooperative Housing Thrives In Spain, Shareable (February 1)
PARTNER VOICES
Black Congregations Are Developing Housing On Church Land, Shelterforce (January 17)
Repair Of Redlining For Economic Justice, Neighborhood Economics (January 18)
Cutting Edge Awarded City of Chicago Community Wealth Building and Technical Assistance Grant, Cutting Edge Capital (January 24)
Remaking the Economy: Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories, Nonprofit Quarterly (January 26)
EVENTS
Impact Investing Symposium At Washington University In St. Louis – Symposium. Friday, February 24, 2023. Mission Driven Finance’s Chief Investment Officer Louie Nguyen will be speaking to help investors and other stakeholders understand the impact that their businesses have in the community and the environment. Register here.
Connecting Capital To Neighborhoods That Don’t Normally Get It – In-Person Conference (Jackson, Mississippi). April 24-26, 2023. Jackson, with its 80% Black population, in the poorest state in the nation, provides a clear example of the racial wealth gap. The tools that Neighborhood Economics is identifying can be deployed in Mississippi to repair the damage caused by the connection between race and poverty. This event will bring together investors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, problem-solvers, and people of faith in a city that needs them all.
11th International Public Markets Conference – In-Person Conference (Toronto, Canada). June 8-10, 2023. For over 35 years, the International Public Markets Conference has brought together visionary market managers, community advocates, and civic leaders to explore the changing forces that are shaping public markets today.
Total Impact Summit 2023: Investing for People, Planet, and Place – In-Person Conference (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). May 1-2, 2023. A two-day, dynamic event for individual investors, family offices, foundations, fund managers, and financial advisors to connect with aligned peers and partners, learn about proven and new investment tools, meet leaders of investable opportunities, and move toward action and investment. See FAQ here.
ICYMI
Worker Co-ops Welcome European Parliament’s Position On Platform Work, Co-op News (February 3)
Building Community Wealth In Scotland: Consultation Paper, Scottish Government (January 2023)
Catford's Getting A New Community-Owned Music Venue, Londonist (January 27)
Our Corporate Landlord Tried To Push Us Out. We Saved Our Homes Through A Community Land Trust., Next City (January 30)
JOBS BOARD
LIFT Economy is hiring a Next Egg Community Manager.
Fair Food Network is hiring a Director of Double Up Food Bucks Michigan.
Mission Driven Finance is hiring multiple positions.
LOCAL INVESTMENT WORKSHOPS
Interested in mobilizing your friends and neighbors to invest locally? For the past two years, we have led workshops called “Local Investment 101” for groups of 50-100 students in Alaska, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington State. Students get access to 15 videos that introduce local investment concepts, and then come together weekly online for four 90-minute sessions. If you’re interested in sponsoring a workshop in your region – or would just like to watch the videos on your own – please check out the details here or email Jen Risley at jenrisley@amiba.net
FREE SHORT VIDEOS ON LOCAL INVESTMENT
If you don’t have time for a full-on workshop, you can get a “taste” of the answers to your most pressing questions about local investment. We have prepared a series of 5-10 minute videos that you can find posted on our website under the “Local Investing Videos” page. Or click on the links below to be directed to videos based on 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. 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 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. 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.
Hi Michael, I love this story. I live about 20 minutes from Zingerman's Roadhouse and can say the food and service there is TOP-NOTCH. No trip to Ann Arbor is complete without stopping by Zingerman's. I'd say this sums up the aspirations of nearly every entrepreneur and local investor alike: To have raving fans who appreciate the time, effort, thought, and skill required to create an exceptional locally-sourced final product, and be able to repeat it 99.9999% of the time. Cheers.