Investing Locally - Sources of Capital

"Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing" by Amy Cortese


excerpts

When small enterprises create 3 out of every 4 jobs and generate half of GDP ...


At the same time, the traditional funding sources for small business - savings, friends and family, venture capital, and bank credit and loans (and credit cards and Equity Lines of Credit) - have become mighty scarce ... (p. IX)

But that, I saw, was about to change.

In Wisconsin ... the state's rural cooperatives were demonstrating that more harmonious and productive models are possible. (p. x)

Kiva (http://www.kiva.org/) and Kickstarter (ww.kickstarted.com) have shown how the small donations of many people can have a big impact on the lives of other.  Now this peer-to-peer crowdfunding model of aggregating many small sums promises to unlock new opportunities for investing in business whose needs are not being me by conventional sources. (p. x)

Social Media is also reviving the direct public offering, or DPO, a little-known method of selling shares directly to the public, without Wall Street underwriters. ...  Ben & Jerry's raised capital through a DPO. (x)  --disclosure : Ben & Jerry's now owned by the mufti-national Unilever-

Meanwhile, communities from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Hawaiian islands are attempting to bring back local stock exchanges, like the ones that thrived in the United States from the 1830s until the mid-20th century, to provide liquidity and spur investment in regional economies. (x)

Rather than synthetic Collaterized Dept Obligations (CDOs) and computerized robo-trading....

Milk Thistle ... what is it about this milk that inspires grown people to gush breathlessly and line up at farmers markets to pay $7 for a half-gallon..?  ... not merely organic, it comes from grass-fed cows .. pesticide-free pastures ..  sold his milk in bulk to a bigger dairy operation... he was on the fast track to ruin ... then... (started) selling his milk directly to the public at New York City Farmers Markets, to immediate acclaim.  (p.xvi)..  When he needed to expand.. . successful in raising money from a customer-led group of investors. (xix)

Moebius Technologies manufactures high-tech medical equipment in Lansing Michigan... They contribute to the community's prosperity by employing local workers and spending profits locally, allowing that money to recirculate in the community - know by economists as the multiplier effect. (p.5-6) .. and their tax contributions pay for local services.

A study by Harvard professor Edward L. Glaeser highlight the link between firm size and employment. Analyzing census data from 1977 to 2007, Glaeser found that the U.S. counties with the smallest firms experienced job growth of 150 percent. As average firm size increased, job growth decreased almost in lockstep.  Large corporations create a lot of jobs, to be sure, but they eliminate more - at least domestically - making them net job destroyers.

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Buying Locally grown (Farmer's markets), Eating at Local restaurants, Investing Locally ...  look for Locally Owned Businesses:

Restaurants
Farmer's markets
Supermarkets
Community Banks and Credit Unions
Dance Studio, Pilates, gyms, Karate

Beauty Salon
Books store
Liquor stores
Travel Agencies
Laundry
Roofer
Electrician
Plumber
Bowling alleys
Piano teachers
Freight Forwarders
Printers
Day Care Centers
Accountants
Advertising

Largest outlays of monthly income: (local in bold):
Housing, Health Insurance, Food, Property Taxes, Housing Insurance, Car, Car Insurance, Cable,....

Housing - Local Builder(?) Local construction worker (Yes) Local Bank(?)

Local Markets and Restaurants, finding local Health Insurance and investing in Local Banks will make the biggest impact...




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