As the federal government runs out of plausible stimulus solutions to the nation’s persistent unemployment crisis, a new set of options is beginning to emerge at the local level across America. The real solution, argues Michael Shuman, is to nurture locally owned businesses through cutting-edge economic development policies that cost little or nothing. In a full-day workshop, Shuman will be detailing these strategies for politicians, policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs, and interested citizens in the Ithaca region.

Shuman is the author of three books detailing these approaches: Going Local (1998), The Small-Mart Revolution (2006), and Local Dollars, Local Sense (2012).  He shows that the key to creating jobs is to abandon ineffective traditional economic-development policies that emphasize the attraction and retention of nonlocal business and to support local businesses through sensible policies promoting local investing, purchasing, entrepreneurship, and partnerships. Among the kinds of policies worth exploring are the deployment of “meta-businesses,” which support local businesses in ways that pay for themselves, such as a purchasing cooperative whose staff is paid through membership fees.

Workshop Schedule:

Introductions 9:00-9:15

Overview 9:15-10:30
Presentation of the underlying case for local living economies and the trends in the global economy that are favoring local competitiveness

Break 10:30-10:45

Leak-Plugging Businesses 10:45-12:15
Discussion of data on the job-creating potential of new or expanded LOIS (locally-owned, import-substituting) businesses in our region, based on leakage calculators. Ten to 20 leak-plugging businesses in small towns across American that suggest the broader range of broader possibilities for Ithaca will be presented.

Lunch provided by GreenStar Cooperative Market 12:15-1:30
Some short videos (for dessert) about successful BALLE network activities will be shown.

Meta-Businesses 1:30-2:30
The concept of “meta-businesses” will be re-introduced and several examples of self-financing programs that could support local purchasing, entrepreneurship, and business partnerships will be presented. 

Community Capital 2:30-3:30
Many examples of community capital innovations around the country that are successfully capitalizing local businesses will be presented, including government-led meta-businesses.

Break 3:30-3:45

Public Policy 3:45-4:45
More than a dozen innovative public policies around the country supporting LOIS businesses will be presented. These include reforms of public zoning, planning, policing, school building, procurement, investment, and economic-development “incentives.”

Closing 4:45-5:00

For additional information, contact localfirstithaca@gmail.com