My first writings on local finance, such as my 2007 Schumacher Lecture, were about the need for local stock exchanges. Sooner or later, investors need to cash out of their investments, and stock exchanges have historically provided efficient mechanisms for doing so. In the early 1900s, there were dozens of regional stock exchanges in the United States supporting hundreds of local businesses. These ultimately merged into a handful of exchanges, like the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, that today focus exclusively on global trades of large companies.
The need for local exchanges supporting local companies remains, but the old model of exchanges, elite clubs with members hawking trades at the top of their lungs, is now obsolete. We now have electronic “clearance” systems. And increasingly, what is being traded are not traditional securities but digitized tokens connected in complex ways to the underlying securities.
One way of thinking about exchanges is that they serve as the plumbing of the financial system, connecting investors, securities issuers, and funds. And one person who is thinking creatively about deploying cutting-edge financial tools to local finance is DW Ferrell, the architect of LocalFund. Today’s interview is with DW, the Plumber in Chief.
LocalFund adapts the tools once reserved for private equity to make digital markets simple enough for anyone to navigate. It’s not a fund itself, and it’s not a stock exchange, though it runs on the same highways. Instead, it aims to move capital through established legal lanes without the audits, fees, and overhead that keep most small players out. In my mind, there remain legal and conceptual challenges in his model, but see what you think. He’s onto something important.
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MS: DW, thanks for chatting with us today. Why don’t you give us the big picture of LocalFund.org? Who is it for, and what makes it distinct in the ecosystem of community capital funds?
DWF: My Gen-Z kids were surprised to hear that we used to have regional stock exchanges across the U.S. before everything got swallowed up by Wall Street giants. We’re bringing that local exchange idea back, replacing ticker tape with modern tools. The framework is built for reliable returns, diversification, and scheduled liquidity windows to cash out or rebalance.
The LocalFund network connects independent funds—much like the ACH network links banks—providing the clearing rails for community capital. These include CDFI funds that lend to small businesses and Qualified Opportunity Funds that invest in real estate. We also connect with regional funds that focus on place, and thematic funds that focus on purpose, like affordable housing or clean energy.
MS: So LocalFund is a fund of funds?
DWF: It isn’t a fund of funds, and it’s not a monolithic fund either. Think of it as an index of funds that were disconnected and had limited liquidity, but now they share a common liquidity system. For example, the Capital fund in D.C.—stewarded by CIEconomy.com—is using our LIFT Framework...
MS: Let me stop you there. What do you mean by “LIFT Framework”?
DWF: It’s a mouthful, Legacy Impact Futures Trust. It’s really about trust in both senses of the word, the legal kind and the human kind. You can think of LIFT as a community-based version of a REIT, only broader than just real estate. It’s designed for double-equity, which is financial equity and stakeholder equity, while lowering the bar so anyone can get started with a LIFT Certificate.
MS: Can grassroots investors buy these certificates?
DWF: Absolutely. Certificates create a gateway for everyday people to learn about community investment through regional funds, or regenerative impact from companies like Hyera Inc. It works like a community CD—but instead of a lump sum, people can put in a small amount like $50 monthly and earn a reliable return. They also know their dollars are helping community projects or purpose-driven entrepreneurs. It’s simple and certain, and designed for credit unions and community banks to offer LIFT Certificates alongside their CDs and savings accounts eventually.
MS: Can people choose what priorities their certificates are funding?
DWF: Yes. Each person chooses their own priorities—like affordable housing, local food systems, or a region such as the Southeast—and their dollars are placed in portfolios managed by partner funds that match those goals. For example, the Proactive Fund focuses on affordable housing, with investments in North Carolina, checking two of those boxes at once. Normally, that fund has a $50,000 minimum from accredited investors, but LocalFund bundles smaller Lift Certificates to make the Regulation D investment. As Funders learn more about each priority-driven portfolio, they are gaining the sophistication needed to invest directly if they choose. This also helps funds and issuers reach grassroots investors in ways that are typically challenging under SEC rules.
MS: So you basically create a ledger that connects a group of community-aligned funds?
DWF: Exactly. SEC guidance in 2024 clarified how community funds can safely coordinate liquidity without becoming brokers or custodians. That cleared the path for the LIFT Framework and the LocalFund network. This summer, Congress made 100% deductions permanent for certain qualified properties placed into service after January 2025—a major incentive for community investment. We help funds leverage these legal and tax changes to structure portfolios that qualify. This gives investors tangible impact and financial upside tied to productive enterprises and real-world assets, rather than speculation.
MS: Tell us a little about the history of LocalFund. When was it founded, what did you learn from your roots in crowdfunding, and how did those lessons lead to today’s networked fund model?
DWF: LocalFund began in 2015 as a crowdfunding consultancy. We helped local businesses raise millions and saw up close what worked and what didn’t. Regulation Crowdfunding opened doors for everyday investors but also brought high legal, audit, and marketing costs. Investors had a higher risk from investing in single companies, with little room for diversification or liquidity. Once the round closed, investors were locked in, and founders faced compliance burdens that slowed growth.
Those lessons made it clear that the future doesn’t need more crowdfunding portals; it needs better infrastructure. We needed a way to make local investing as fluid as online banking and as fair as community lending. That’s what the LIFT Framework was built for: giving funds and Founders shared tools for liquidity, transparency, and trust, so capital can circulate instead of getting stuck.
Since its quiet rollout this year, LocalFund has connected flagship funds in each U.S. region—Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West—plus purpose-driven funds aligned with certificate holder priority “votes”. The Capitol Fund in D.C. now mentors new stewards, showing how scheduled liquidity and shared reporting keep local control while scaling regional impact. Most activity still runs through private placements, but new public campaigns will open the door for grassroots investors this fall, starting with Geoship Landings, where land co-ownership will enable regenerative housing communities to blend architecture, ecology, and equity into intergenerational wealth.
MS: Your website says that LocalFund is about supporting “Regenerative Capital for business owners, worker cooperatives, anchor institutions, and transformative startups.” Can you say more about how you define “regenerative” and “transformative”?
DWF: Sure. Much of traditional finance is built for extraction. Private equity strips companies for parts, and conventional debt can trap entrepreneurs in rigid terms. Even “sustainable investment” usually means doing less harm, not creating more good.
Regenerative capital works more like a flywheel—once it’s moving, each return propels the next cycle. Waste becomes fuel, recirculation creates jobs, and value accelerates instead of being drained away. Meanwhile, traditional loans and common stock are rigid capital tools, brittle enough to break a company. So we flipped the model. Founders can start with Convertible Yield—flexible, revenue-based financing—and later choose to convert it into Shares with dividends, or pay it off as a Note with interest. Each agreement is structured and administered through our LIFT framework under an Exempt Reporting Advisor (ERA) or compliance-trust arrangement, ensuring that every contract operates transparently and in accordance with securities regulations.
I’m influenced by economists like Mariana Mazzucato and John Fullerton, who challenged shareholder primacy with the idea of regenerative economics. A regenerative investment produces spillover benefits—better jobs, stronger supply chains, and community wealth that fuels the next generation. That’s why the LIFT Framework embeds double-equity: both governance equity and financial equity, a balance missing from most stakeholder models.
Transformative startups fit that vision, too. They don’t just scale—they rebuild systems as they grow. Take Geoship, which promotes trust-based co-ownership of land and shared commons. Or Hyera, which turns agricultural waste into activated carbon while capturing CO₂ and producing clean hydrogen. It’s the “Back to the Future” hover car come to life—waste in, clean energy out. LIFT lets those complex parts align under one structure, so value compounds across the ecosystem on a single transparent ledger.
MS: Your website has a map of five regional funds that you target: It says, “Each regional fund or thesis fund is independently managed, but connected by the shared infrastructure of the LIFT Framework, with the full backing of the Exchange Reserve.” Can you describe the “infrastructure” you are offering these funds, and describe what the “Exchange Reserve” is?
DWF: I’ll compare it to the status quo. The financial plumbing that funds typically rely on was built for big banks—it moves deposits up and out of communities through sweeps, securitization, and national money markets. That system rewards scale, not regenerative equity value.
The LIFT Framework provides modern financial plumbing centered on stakeholder equity, aligning place and purpose. Instead of daily trading, it coordinates scheduled liquidity windows across funds and maintains a transparent valuation protocol. Funds use the Exchange Reserve only for clearing, redemption, and rebalancing, while full custody stays with each independent fund or trust. So, to sum up, it gives fund stewards the same financial muscle as big institutions, just without the Wall Street middlemen.
MS: So if I’m a grassroots investor and want to invest in a regenerative business in, say, Tucson, what are the exact steps you will lead me through to facilitate my investment?
DWF: If you’re a grassroots investor who wants to support Tucson businesses, you’d start at LocalFund.org and click “Funder”. From there, you set your priorities—for example, Tucson for the region and Indie Businesses as a priority. You’ll start receiving stories about those priorities and the regenerative ideas behind them, like the local multiplier effect. There’s no cost to learn more, and no investor accreditation is required.
When you’re ready, you can fund a LIFT Certificate, either 36 months at 10% fixed growth or 60 months at 20%. About three-quarters of funders choose a monthly contribution, earmarked for their chosen priorities. Your money is diversified and professionally managed, not tied to a single company or property. From there, your participation grows naturally. Certificates are just the starting point—the on-ramp to learning about the regional and thematic funds across the network.
As certificate funding builds around a shared priority, those pooled commitments flow into funds that match that focus. The result is a reliable return and a front-row seat to the impact that aligns with your priorities.
MS: How many investors have you attracted thus far, and how much investment?
DWF: So far, investors number in the hundreds, including some as far away as Australia. A funder doesn’t need to be “local”. This year has been more about validation than volume. Our major milestone was to prove that independent funds can coordinate liquidity without giving up custody. The next phase is expanding access to grassroots funders through public campaigns, including participation in a Regulation A offering this fall.
MS: So let’s ask the question from the standpoint of a business. If I’m a small business looking for local capital in Tucson, how exactly would you help me?
DWF: For a business in Tucson, support starts with local fund stewards—partners like Groundswell Capital or Aliados Tucson. They meet you where you are, assess your goals, and match you with the right type of capital. If a traditional loan makes sense, they’ll connect you to a local credit union or CDFI. But you can also start without taking on debt using LocalFund tools.
A great example is Courtney Sanders, founder of Trembo. As a mostly deaf innovator with a breakthrough haptic device, she was able to start raising funds by offering a Convertible Yield—without giving up equity or taking on debt. Unlike a SAFE, it’s backed by pre-sales or recurring revenue, not speculative future value.
As community backing grows and your performance data builds, you can qualify for equity investment through the regional fund once a shared milestone is reached. You’re not raising money in isolation. You’re part of a coordinated network where funders and founders grow together. That alignment creates more than financial capital: it builds community capital in the form of social proof, trust, and clear pathways to shared ownership, whether through anchorship, worker cooperatives, or community buyouts.
MS: How many businesses do you reckon you’ve helped so far?
DWF: I’ve personally worked with at least six to seven hundred business owners, and fund partners add multiples to that. Back in 2014, I took over a former Crate & Barrel in a struggling part of Long Beach and turned it into a Localism incubator. It was probably the first revenue-based incubator—and it became a huge community success. In its first year, we helped about 150 businesses start or grow. Then, in 2015, we layered LocalFund crowdfunding on top to help founders launch and fill empty storefronts.
One recurring challenge was the misalignment between independent merchants and property owners—a key driver of displacement during gentrifying development. That realization became a turning point for me. I had previously co-written a book on trusts and estate planning, and also served on a land-trust committee. It sparked an idea: what if a trust framework, similar to a REIT, could align stakeholders and property owners—or even prevent displacement altogether?
That insight led to our Anchorship.org work with partners, modeling community-led development playbooks and pathways to build community and generational wealth. It’s no longer just a theory. We’ve operationalized the LIFT Framework through the Anchorship Lab.
MS: Finally, how personally do you invest locally?
DWF: My wife and I live in Long Beach, California, where we own property and invest in the local creative economy—from indie merchants to visual artists and musicians. We still hold some positions on Wall Street, such as a clean-energy fund, but building this network has opened our eyes to high-performing, place-based alternatives that I plan to double down on. I also teach through Small Business Development Centers and mentor founders, which has become one of the most rewarding investments of time I can make.
