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Strength in Numbers -- July 2011 Newsletter

Independent Business Alliances in Action

  • Implementing more environmentally-friendly practices interests many entrepreneurs, but without direct, affordable support it's tough for small businesses to turn good intentions into actions. To address this problem, SBN Boston developed the Sustainable Business Leader Program (SBLP), a comprehensive assistance and certification program that has certified over 50 businesses completing a six-step process (another 50 businesses now are participating). SBN is eager to share their experience with other alliances. Visit SustainableBusinessLeader.org or contact Katrina at Katrina@SBNBoston.org for more.

  • Congratulations to Sustain-a-Bull (Durham, NC) on earning a great endorsement from their daily paper. One great way to make your papers' editorial columns is by introducing your group and its work to the editorial board by requesting a meeting. AMIBA provides a primer on planning editorial board meetings as an affiliation benefit (see member resources).

  • How much is your local business alliance's "brand" and membership worth? GoLocal Sonoma County Cooperative (CA) gauged the media impressions generated by GoLocal and their member businesses to to determine a collective brand value of $8 million. Their work should help convey the value of GoLocal membership as well as the value created by each member proudly displaying their member logo in ads, websites, etc. Learn more.

    Kelly Rajala and Debbie Ramirez, two people who helped drive GoLocal's development, recently launched Share Exchange a new co-working facility in Santa Rosa, CA.

Jobs and Internships Building Vibrant Local Economies
We just created a bulletin board for jobs and internships available at IBAs and other local business alliances (and AMIBA). You don't need to be an AMIBA affiliate to post a position (just email us a sentence or two with a link to details). We expect this to grow rapidly (almost every local alliance should have internship postings).

Is This Fresh Food? Not according to the USDA.

Notable News on Indie Business

Why is Michelle Obama Promoting Walmart?
Stacy Mitchell explains the USDA's role in spreading misinformation about "food deserts" and the absurdity of presenting Walmart and other mega-chains as the solution.

More Chains in Trouble / Opportunities for Indies
All 399 remaining Borders stores will be liquidated shortly and, while we regret 10,000 more people will be losing jobs in the short-term, we salute the independent book and music sellers who've outlasted a major competitor. The strategies of two booksellers who helped launch the Corvallis IBA in response to Borders' arrival there were profiled as part of news coverage on Borders' closing in Oregon.

The American Booksellers Association offers great ideas on how independent businesses might gain new business in Borders' wake (many of which apply to other business sectors). Meanwhile, 30% of Quiznos outlets have closed since the chain's peak and the corporation may soon default on loans, according to the Wall St. Journal.

Sales Tax Fairness Battle Escalates
You've likely heard Amazon.com is readying plans to overturn via referendum a recent California law that would end Amazon's exemption from sales tax collection duty in the state. After much of the media got basic facts about Amazon's nexus wrong in their reports, AMIBA and Hometown Peninsula IBA president Clark Kepler (Menlo Park, CA) issued this press release to help correct the record. We'll be reporting more on this high-stakes battle soon.

Local Procurement and Policy
This city spends an impressive 60% of outlays at locally-owned businesses: Have you examined how yours does?

Via the New Rules Project: a recent study in metro St. Louis analyzed $5.8 billion in public tax subsidies for commercial development over the past two decades, about 80 percent which underwrote the construction of big-box stores and shopping malls (mostly in affluent suburbs). Despite these massive subsidies, virtually no economic growth occurred in the region. Perhaps investing in entrepreneurial training and community-rooted entreprise is worth a try next time?

News of the Weird
A group promoting local businesses adapted our Independents Week, called the event Independents Day and celebrates it on July 4...in London, England!

 

Welcome New AMIBA Affiliates

AMIBA welcomes the newly-formed New Albany First! (Indiana) and the established Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston to the team.

 

News for Business Owners

More on Google+
We noted adding Google + buttons to our website in our last newsletter (akin to "liking" a Facebook page), but it's more than just another sharing tool. Here's a useful overview of Google Plus. Given Google's reach, this is worth evaluating for those who wish to be on top of emerging tech tools.

Are You Monitoring the Wrong People with Your Security?
Learn Why the Rich Shoplift More Than The Poor.

Are Your Prices Right?
Small business owner Jay Goltz offers some useful observations on price sensitivity.

"Made in the USA" Resonates Differently with Sexes
Via Hardware Retailing magazine: a new study reports 28% of U.S. women said they made a concerted effort to seek out domestically-made goods in the past year. Just 23% of men indicated such effort, yet men were more willing to pay a small premium for those goods than women. Women were more motivated by civic ideals while men placed more emphasis on perceived product quality superiority.

Last Call for Video Submissions
If your business or local group has produced a video effectively promoting independent businesses collectively or a single business in a way that focuses on the benefit provided by its local ownership, we'd like to see it! We welcome submission of 15 seconds to 2 minutes for an upcoming online resource to be featured next month. Please send links or queries to news@AMIBA.net.

 

Free Storefront Decals with Any Poster Set!

We typically see a mid-summer lull, followed by a surge of orders for our outreach materials in early fall. This year, we're providing newsletter readers a great incentive to spread out our workload! Through the end of August, you'll get two free storefront decals with every set of "Why Buy Local" posters. The five-poster series frequently generates contacts for businesses that lead to pro-local organizing. See them both or place your order here.

 

New Additions to Member Resources

These web pages are accessible only to affiliates (if you are a board member or volunteer with an affiliate, contact your leader for login). Please log in before clicking!

June Conference Call and Resources Posted
Our June call for IBA organizers on "Positioning Your IBA to Hire a Director" is now posted in mp3 format, along with supporting documents. Directors of mature IBAs explain how their groups transitioned successfully from all-volunteer to staffed organizations. Next month: "Diversifying your funding base."

Corvallis IBA Scrip Program
In too many communities, chain stores and restaurants initiate programs that lead to kids and parents driving sales to chains for school or youth group fundraising. The Corvallis IBA (OR) developed a scrip program to connect these community groups and their local businesses instead.
 

AMIBA People: Jennifer Rockne

Over the next few newsletters, we'll be introducing you to some of the staff, board and other volunteers that make AMIBA work. Jennifer Rockne has served as AMIBA's Executive Director since our inception in 2001. She grew up in a rural Minnesota family with a multi-generational family business. Jennifer previously was the Outreach Director for the nation’s first Independent Business Alliance in Boulder, Colorado. Read more.

 

Go Local, Grow Local - Mark Your Calendars for the 2012 AMIBA Conference

It's a continent-wide sharing and learning fest! The Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA) will host the 2012 conference at the beautiful Galt House in downtown Louisville, KY from March 29 - April 1, 2012. We'll publish session RFPs and sponsorship opportunities next month and now seek volunteers to help shape the conference agenda and make this the biggest and best gathering yet!

We'll be sure to include LIBA in a workshop to teach us how to put on events that attract 4,000 people and generate $22,000 in profit, as their 3rd annual microbrew festival did this month!

The Final Word

If your local business organization aims to gain 501c6 federal tax-exempt status under AMIBA's group exemption program or has questions about the process, please contact Jennifer Rockne immediately to meet the August deadline.

 

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