Backround trio from left to right: Kathy Ciesinski with Think Local First; Andrew Cluley, who was covering the event for WEMU radio; and Bob Van Bemmelen, proponent of the Unity model. Foreground trio: Ingrid Ault, executive director of Think Local First; Samantha Nielsen Misiak and Krissa Rumsey, both facilitators for TLF. (Photos by the writer.)

On Tuesday evening at the downtown Ann Arbor District Library’s lower level multipurpose room, Think Local First held the first of three meetings designed to gauge interest and support for the idea of a local currency. Ingrid Ault, Think Local First’s executive director, said she was hoping that more than the 10 people who dropped by would attend.

But there’ll be two additional meetings with the same content, both from 6-8 p.m.: Thurs., Feb. 25 at the Ypsilanti Senior Center; and Wed., March 3 at Vitosha Guest Haus Inn.

One couple, Larry An and Eileen Ho, dropped by the Tuesday event, even though that wasn’t the reason they were visiting the library. They’d come with their fourth- and six-grade kids, who were looking for their artwork – the lower level of the library is regularly updated with exhibits of art created by students in Ann Arbor’s local schools.

What piqued An and Ho’s curiosity was the idea of adding a local currency as a tool in their cohousing development – Sunward Cohousing – to aid the distribution of the work. Currently, members of the development are supposed to work four hours a month on tasks that are determined by the development’s work committee. For example, An said he’d put in some time shoveling snow in the wake of the storm that hit Ann Arbor earlier in the week.

Larry An, who dropped by the Think Local First event on Tuesday, is pointed in the right direction by Kathy Ciesinski, who was volunteering for the nonprofit.

An’s effort at snow shoveling didn’t match another resident’s, he said, who spent the entire day shoveling – that exceeded the four-hour monthly requirement in short order. But there’s no way to store that extra labor. And as the residents of the development get older, An said, people might not be able to contribute to the kind of work they did when they were younger.

The idea of using a currency primarily as a way of banking time was one of four basic approaches to local currency presented on poster printouts at different “stations” in the multipurpose room on Tuesday night. A parade example of such an approach receiving national attention is Ithaca Hours.

Closer to home, a time-centered approach to local currency has been implemented by the Dexter Miller Community Co-op, a neighborhood cooperative on the city’s west side. [Chronicle coverage: "Another Day, Another Dex-Mil"] On payment of the membership fee and dues for the Dexter Miller community, members are issued 16 DexMills – each note is worth 15 minutes, for a total of four hours.

How you get your hands on the “money” is one way to distinguish among various approaches to local currency. A second main approach presented at Tuesday’s meeting was basically to conceive of a local currency as an alternative to ordinary U.S. federal currency. The local currency can be purchased with those federal dollars at some agreed rate of exchange. In Traverse City, Mich., Bay Bucks are an example of that approach.

Also visiting the Think Local First event on Tuesday was Stephen Ranzini, president of University Bank, who had spoken to the DDA at their October 2009 meeting about his experience with the paper currency model of local currency. From The Chronicle’s report of that meeting:

DDA board members were alerted to some existing experience with local currencies in the Ann Arbor banking community, when Stephen Ranzini addressed them during public commentary at the conclusion of the meeting. Ranzini is president of University Bank. He described how he’d begun his banking career in Newberry, Mich., near Sault Ste. Marie, and how he’d developed a local currency there. In the first year, they’d circulated around $0.5 million of local scrip, and found that it had increased local shopping. So it was an idea he thought was worth looking at.

The Traverse Area Community Currency Corporation, which issues Bay Bucks, describes on its website how most businesses that accept Bay Bucks don’t accept them for 100% of payment. The idea is to keep the Bucks in circulation and circulating –  to achieve that goal, businesses can’t accept more Bucks in payment than they can reasonably expect to spend themselves.

The idea of using local currency for only partial payment for goods and services is key to the coupon model, which was the third main approach presented at the Think Local First event. At the meeting was a proponent of the coupon, or Unity model, Bob Van Bemmelen.

Samantha Nielsen Misiak talks with Bob Van Bemmelen about the coupon model of local currency.

Van Bemmelen is a pharmacist, and he appealed to a medical model to explain part of his enthusiasm for this approach. Money is like blood, essential for getting goods and services (nutrients and oxygen) to the people who need them (cells of the body). While a newborn baby might have a few ounces of blood, he said, as the baby grows, it generates a sufficient amount of blood to deliver nourishment to the rest of the body.

One advantage of the coupon model, Van Bemmelen said, is that you can easily inject money into the system – you simply give it to people.

The fourth and final approach to local currency presented on posters was a barter system with “trade dollars” used as an accounting tool. An example of such a system is the Michigan Barter Marketplace.

Participants in the event Tuesday evening were asked to visit each station where the different currency models were explained on posters, and then fill out a sheet indicating their level of support for each approach.

The next two meetings will have the same format: Thurs., Feb. 25 at the Ypsilanti Senior Center; and Wed., March 3 at Vitosha Guest Haus Inn. More input will be eventually be solicited through an online survey, said Ault.

Paul Saginaw, co-founder of Zingerman's, spoke about building a local "living economy" at Monday night's Think Local First annual meeting. (Photo by the writer.)

Paul Saginaw joked that during his senior year of high school, he was voted Least Likely to Have a Positive Impact on Society. The remark drew a laugh from the crowd of more than 100 people attending Think Local First’s annual meeting on Monday night – most of them know the Zingerman’s co-founder is an advocate for socially responsible business, as well as a driving force behind the nonprofit Food Gatherers, which launched 21 years ago this week.

For many years, that high school description was “so true,” Saginaw said. “But for the second half of my life, I’ve been trying to prove them wrong.”

Saginaw, the evening’s featured speaker, talked passionately about the need for local economies built around “human-scale” enterprises, with businesses as a positive force for social change. He described several ways that the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, a national group, is supporting the efforts of small, independent businesses. The goal? “What we want to do is change the world,” he said.

BALLE – Building a National Network

Saginaw serves as vice chair of the board of directors for BALLE, the acronym of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. Judy Wicks – the group’s founder and owner of White Dog Cafe in Philadelphia – was the speaker at last year’s Think Local First annual meeting. [See Chronicle coverage: "Thinking (Eating, Drinking) Local First"]

At Monday’s event, held at Big George’s on West Stadium Boulevard, Saginaw described several initiatives that BALLE is undertaking. The group is a “network of networks,” he said – Think Local First is an affiliate – representing over 20,000 independent businesses in the U.S. and Canada. Their goal is to strengthen and connect these networks, helping communities build sustainable economies through independent retail, sustainable agriculture, green building, renewable energy, community capital, and zero-waste manufacturing. The organization is eight years old, Saginaw said, “but it’s starting to get traction now.”

Saginaw said that BALLE has secured major funding from the NoVo Foundation, led by the son and daughter-in-law of financier Warren Buffet. BALLE also has hired a new director, Michelle Long, who previously was co-founder and executive director of Sustainable Connections in Bellingham, Washington – an organization similar to Think Local First that eclipsed their local chamber of commerce in membership, Saginaw said.

BALLE will be pushing for public policy changes that favor small, independent businesses, Saginaw said. Right now, it’s easier to withdraw all of your savings and lose it gambling in Detroit’s Greektown Casino than it is to invest in a local business, he said, and that needs to change. It’s part of the concept of community capital – keeping dollars local, whether it’s buying from a locally owned shop or investing in a local business.

In addition, BALLE’s research and public policy director, Michael Shuman, will be putting out a monthly e-zine – a magazine distributed via email and other electronic means – on issues related to sustainable, living economies. Shuman is the author of “The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition.” Copies of the book were raffled off during Monday’s event.

During the first part of his talk, Saginaw focused on the efforts of BALLE. He devoted the rest of his speech to an impassioned defense for the virtues of building sustainable local communities. In many cases, business has become an instrument of greed rather than one of social good, he said. But as local business owners, he continued, we know that business can be beautiful – an expression of personal creativity, providing meaningful work to others at a fair wage, and creating a mechanism for social change.

The latter kind of business, he said, is the foundation for a healthy community and a healthy democracy.

Think Local First: Looking Ahead

As part of Monday’s annual meeting, Ingrid Ault, executive director of Think Local First, gave brief remarks before Saginaw’s presentation. Ault said the group is focused on two main goals for the coming year: 1) overhauling their website, with help from Bonnie Valentine of The Whole Brain Group, and 2) applying to become a 501(c)3 nonprofit. The group’s current status as a 501(c)6 nonprofit does not allow them to apply for certain grants or take advantage of tax-deductible donations, she said.

Longer term, Ault said they hope to get sufficient funding to turn her part-time position into a full-time one, so that she’d have more time to devote to the buy local movement.

Natalie Marble, owner of Ann Arbor Cooks, sprinkles sugar on pumpkin crème brûlée to be served at the Think Local First gathering. Ann Arbor Cooks was one of several local businesses that provided food and beverages for the event. (Photo by the writer.)

Bonnie Valentine of The Whole Brain Group holds up a bowl to collect business cards – later, cards were drawn for raffle prizes. (Photo by the writer.)

Charlie Hickman, left, draws a business card out of the bowl to see who'll win a copy of Michael Shuman's book, "The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition." Looking on is Charlie's brother Joe Hickman. In the background is Bob Dascola of Dascola Barbers. (Photo by the writer.)

Kelly Zorn of Z Design Studio, far right, was recognized for designing the recently published Think Local First resource guide. In the foreground are Claire and Paul Tinkerhess, owners of Fourth Ave Birkenstock and Fourth Ave Sleep Shop. (Photo by the writer.)

Panelists at the Sept. 23 Michigan Peaceworks forum on the local economy, from the left: Tom Weisskopf, University of Michigan economics professor; Ellen Clement, Corner Health Center executive director; Jeff McCabe, People's Food Co-Op board member; Lisa Dugdale, Transition Ann Arbor; Michael Appel, Avalon Housing executive director; John Hieftje, mayor of Ann Arbor. (Photo by the writer.)

When The Chronicle entered the lower level meeting room of the downtown Ann Arbor library, the first things we noticed were three large trays of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut into bite-sized wedges. As public forums go, this was an offbeat gnoshing choice.

It turned out that the sandwiches – and apples, soft drinks, potato chips and other food – were all sourced from Michigan, in keeping with the theme of Wednesday night’s event. The panel discussion focused on the state’s economic crisis, and how the community can respond to it.  Buying local products is one example.

Starting a local currency is another possibility – the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority is funding a study to look into that. Generating  electricity locally is also an opportunity – Mayor John Hieftje told the group that he didn’t think the dam at Argo Pond would be removed, in part because it might be used for hydropower in the future.

The forum – “Michigan’s Economic Situation: Crisis or Opportunity?” – was hosted by Ann Arbor-based Michigan Peaceworks and Washtenaw Voice, a coalition of local nonprofits that are working together to increase voter turnout and bolster the community in other ways. Michigan Peaceworks is the lead agency in this effort, part of the broader Michigan Voice initiative.

State and national issues were part of the discussion, but most of the six panelists focused on how the local community can take action in specific areas, including food, health care, housing and the environment.

The Panelists’ Perspectives

Laura Russello, executive director of Michigan Peaceworks, moderated the panel. She began by announcing that state Rep. Rebekah Warren, a Democrat whose district includes Ann Arbor and who was originally scheduled as a panelist, got stuck in Lansing and sent her regrets. (The legislature is trying to resolve a projected $2.7 billion budget deficit by the start of its fiscal year, on Oct. 1.) The others who spoke at Wednesday’s forum represented a cross-section of the community, including academia, nonprofits and the government. Here’s a sampling of their comments.

Tom Weisskopf, University of Michigan economics professor

Weisskopf, who served as director of UM’s Residential College from 1996 to 2005, compared the current economic crisis to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Though not as deep as that decline, today’s economy faces unprecedented challenges, he said.

“We really need a transformation, not just a recovery,” Weisskopf said.

He described the Solidarity Economy, an international movement that rejects profit-centered values and embraces cooperation, equality and local control. He listed several examples of ways that this movement is taking shape. Community land trusts – nonprofits that provide “truly affordable housing,” he said – are cropping up across the country, and have lower foreclosure rates than the general housing market. One successful example is the Champlain Housing Trust in Burlington, Vermont.

Community-owned corporations, with locally elected boards and shares sold to local investors, are another example of the solidarity economy.  In Ann Arbor, People’s Food Co-op fits this model, Weisskopf said. Other “solidaristic” examples include worker-owned cooperatives like Cleveland’s Evergreen Cooperative Laundry, community development financial institutions, and the green jobs movement, with efforts like the Green Collar Jobs Corps in Oakland, Calif.

Ellen Clement, Corner Health Center

Clement began by noting that she’d worked for over 20 years in public health – earlier this year, she resigned as health officer for the Washtenaw County Public Health Department to take the job as executive director at the Corner Health Center, a Ypsilanti clinic for teens. “Believe me, it’s an eye-opening change,” she said.

Responding to the question of whether the economic crisis can be turned into an opportunity, Clement said that for health care, dramatic change won’t happen without a crisis. That crisis has arrived, and it’s time to make sure that health care is seen as a right, not a privilege, she said. “There’s just, to me, no excuse for not having health care for all.”

But providing health care alone won’t be enough, she said – it’s also about keeping Americans healthier, with policies and incentives that focus on preventive care and promote healthier lifestyles. Clement cited efforts like the Ann Arbor Non-Motorized Transportation Plan and the Ann Arbor YMCA’s Pioneering Healthier Communities, which focuses on providing recreational programs to youth in Ypsilanti.

She noted that as they listen to the panelists, the audience would see that all of the topics are interconnected – that’s what sustainability is all about, she said.

Jeff McCabe, People’s Food Co-op and Friday Mornings @ Selma

McCabe contends that food is taken for granted, more so than even air or water. There were moments of crisis regarding the quality of our air and water that prompted policy reforms, he said. “In food, we haven’t seen that change yet.”

Americans still want their food fast and cheap, McCabe said, and the locavore movement – with its focus on eating locally grown and produced food – hasn’t even taken one mile out of the 1,500 miles that food travels, on average, to get to our table.

About 1% of food consumed by residents of Washtenaw County is actually produced in the county, McCabe said. What if that were increased to 10%? Assuming that local residents spend over $1 billion annually on food, increasing consumption of locally grown food could put $100 million into the local economy, he said. Demand would drive an increase in local farming, potentially generating thousands of jobs.

McCabe cited Eliot Coleman of the Four Season Farm in Harborside, Maine, as a model of a small-scale, year-round venture that could work equally well in Washtenaw County. McCabe supports local efforts toward that goal – proceeds from Friday Mornings @ Selma, a weekly breakfast salon run by McCabe and his wife Lisa Gottlieb, help fund hoop house projects in this region.

“We vote with our wallets every day,” McCabe said. “Think about that when you buy your food.”

Lisa Dugdale gets ready to pour a cup of Faygo, one of the Michigan products served at Wednesday's forum. The peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were made from Great Harvest bread (of Ann Arbor), Velvet Peanut Butter (of Detroit) and American Spoon jelly (of Petoskey). (Photo by the writer.)

Lisa Dugdale, Transition Ann Arbor

Dugdale, a founder of Think Local First of Washtenaw County and now a project manager for the Clean Energy Coalition, said the current economic crisis was really an inevitability. She described the Transition Town movement as a response to the challenges of global warming, peak oil and economic instability. [See previous Chronicle coverage of Transition Ann Arbor. Dugdale is one of the group's organizers.]

There are concrete actions that individuals can take, Dugdale said: Buying less, repairing or repurposing items you already own, buying from locally owned businesses that will keep money circulating in this community.

More broadly, the community could do an “economic leakage” study, Dugdale said, looking at sectors that drain the most money out of the community, then focusing economic development efforts in those areas. Food production might be a sector that fits this category, she said.

Creating a local currency is another way to keep money in the community, Dugdale said. Think Local First was recently awarded a grant from the Downtown Development Authority to analyze the feasibility of starting a local currency, she said.

The Chronicle made a follow-up query to Susan Pollay, the DDA’s executive director, who said that the $6,000 grant was authorized earlier this month. Some of the questions that the study will address include:

1. How strong is the demand for a local currency program?
2. How would a local currency program be different than gift certificate programs to local businesses (such as the former Ann Arbor Gold program run by the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce) and how are those differences articulated?
3. If a local currency program were created in Ann Arbor, would it involve coordination with a local bank? If so, how would that bank be selected?
4. Can a local currency program be managed by an existing organization (e.g. Think Local First) or is a separate agency needed?
5. What kind of longevity are other local currency programs experiencing?
6. Is it anticipated that local businesses would see revenue increases as a result of a local currency program? Are there other benefits one might see from such a program?

The study will likely take three to four months to complete, according to Pollay.

Michael Appel, Avalon Housing

Appel explained how housing has become more than just shelter. For many, it’s an asset that creates inter-generational financial stability, even more so than income. People were frightened by the recent housing crash because the dramatic drop in their home’s value meant they were losing the value of a long-term asset, he said.

These personal financial difficulties turn into community crises, as entire neighborhoods are hit by foreclosures. Ann Arbor is less affected than some communities, Appel said, but some areas of Washtenaw County are suffering dramatic foreclosure rates. Foreclosures also displace renters – when their landlord loses the house through foreclosure, the renters are forced to move, even if they’ve been paying rent. This affects some of the poorest in the community, he said.

The housing crash also affects the nonprofit that Appel runs. Their model relies on private investors, who in turn receive tax incentives for investing in Avalon projects. [The group's most recent project, Near North, received approval from the Ann Arbor city council on Monday.] But real estate is no longer seen as a secure investment, he said. Further, if a corporation – and potential investor – isn’t profitable, tax credits would be of little value to such an entity. These factors have curbed the amount of equity available for low-income housing projects.

There are still some opportunities, Appel said. Much of the federal stimulus money is going into the housing sector. The irony, he said, is that the government’s “cure” isn’t focused on helping people find a place to live – it’s focused on fixing housing as an investment. In general, he said, it’s worth considering whether housing should be viewed as a way to build financial security.

Any investment in housing should stress energy efficiency, Appel said, as well as coordination with transportation and jobs. We’ve seen how the suburbs can leave the local economy vulnerable, he said.

John Hieftje, mayor of Ann Arbor

Hieftje said he was a member of the Michigan Climate Action Council, which released a report in March of 2009 that included several policy recommendations related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental issues. However, the state has been slow to act on those recommendations, he said.

Hieftje spoke about various environmental initiatives undertaken by the city of Ann Arbor, including the installation of LED street lights, the addition of bicycle lanes and the goal of using 30% renewable energy for municipal operations by 2010. As an example of areas that are doing even more, he pointed to Ontario, Canada, which has large-scale wind farms and two major solar plants. Public policy in Canada and Europe – including the use of feed-in tariffs – makes it easier to promote renewable energy in those countries, he said.

One of the things that Michigan can do to promote economic recovery is to refocus on making cities the kind of places where people want to be, Hieftje said – the business will follow.

Audience Q&A

The audience asked a range of questions. Here’s a sampling.

Q: How does the city reconcile the seemingly contradictory goals of encouraging alternative transportation while building a new parking structure? Hieftje said that although the city supported alternative transportation, they weren’t trying to create a non-motorized downtown. They’ll be losing at least 700 parking spaces in the coming years, he said, and the new underground parking structure on Fifth Avenue – a project which will be breaking ground next week – is only replacing the parking they’re losing. He added that Google wouldn’t have located in downtown Ann Arbor if there hadn’t been parking available. Insufficient parking simply drives business to the suburbs, he said.

Q: Can Ann Arbor’s dams be used to generate local electrical power? Can Ann Arbor establish a city utility? The city already produces electricity at Barton and Superior dams, Hieftje said. The dam at Gallup has a 50% greater capacity for generating electricity than Argo dam, he said, with about a 35-year payback on investment. But new technologies might make it possible to tap the water flow in ways that aren’t yet possible, Hieftje added. That’s why it might be smart to keep the dam at Argo, he said: “I don’t really see Argo Dam going away.” [See previous Chronicle coverage of an Ann Arbor Energy Commission meeting that discussed the issue of hydropower at the city's dams.]

Because of changes at the state level, it’s harder to establish a municipal utility now than in the past, Hieftje said. The city hasn’t given up on that possibility, but it isn’t easy.

Q: It seems that the organic and local food movement is elitist. How can these movements affect food availability for people with less money? Jeff McCabe said it’s a matter of prioritizing. Do you spend money on a box of cereal or spend time cooking a healthy grain? Those are choices that people make. He noted that commercial food is subsidized, making it more difficult for smaller, organic producers to compete on price. Ellen Clement said that there’s some relationship between the price that people charge and their customer base, citing the example of dramatically lower prices at the Ypsilanti Farmers Market, compared to the market in Ann Arbor.

Q: What are the political roadblocks to building green communities? Hieftje blamed the Republican-controlled state Senate for a reluctance to give up old ways. Policies need to change in Lansing that affect what local municipalities can do. He added that he thought the locally elected legislators did a good job.

The Q&A was followed by breakout sessions, focused on food, health care, housing and the environment. Later, in wrapping up the evening, Russello said they’ll be taking the information and feedback from the forum and using that to identify projects for the Washtenaw Voice coalition. They’ll be launching a website with a calendar and blog.  It will be progressive, she said, adding that organizers are still trying to define exactly what “progressive” means in this context.

Groups Involved in Washtenaw Voice

The following local groups, or the local chapters of these state and national organizations, are part of the Washtenaw Voice initiative. The coalition is not affiliated with the Washtenaw Community College student newspaper, which is also called the Washtenaw Voice.

The Ecology Center

Michigan League of Conservation Voters

Working America

The Women’s Center of Southeast Michigan

Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice

University of Michigan Labor Studies Center

Michigan Peaceworks

Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan

Clean Water Fund

Chelsea Community Hospital

March on the Vote (no website available)

Health Care for Michigan

Center for Michigan

Transportation Riders United

Metropolitan Organizing Strategy Enabling Strength

Partners in Personal Assistance

Laura Russello, executive director of Michigan Peaceworks, with Larry Horvath, one of the nonprofit's volunteers. (Photo by the writer.)

One of four breakout groups at Wednesday night's forum. This group was discussing the issue of food production. (Photo by the writer.)

Podium sign at Wednesday's Think Local First annual meeting.

A local living economy is about maximizing relationships, not maximizing profits. About a living return, not the highest return. Sharing, not hoarding. Being more, not having more.

Judy Wicks, a leader in the local living economy movement, laid out these and other tenets at Wednesday’s annual meeting of Think Local First, a nonprofit network of local businesses. Though Wicks is from Philadelphia – her 25-year-old White Dog Cafe is how she walks the talk in Philly – the evening’s event was all about how communities can foster and sustain themselves at the local level, regardless of where “local” is on the map.

In this case, local meant the Kerrytown Concert House, where about 50 people gathered to hear Wicks describe her efforts both at White Dog Cafe and as founder of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, known as BALLE. She began with a shout-out to Zingerman’s, which was sponsoring her visit (as well as a talk Thursday night at Zingerman’s Roadhouse). Zingerman’s is the best example in the country of a business growing locally, she said. Instead of opening cookie-cutter delis nationwide, they’ve chosen to stay in the Ann Arbor area and diversify their business, looking for what the community needs – a bakery, creamery and more – and then filling that need.

Judy Wicks of White Dog Cafe, speaking at Wednesday's Think Local First meeting.

The recent crisis in America’s economy, she said, reinforces the need to invest locally. Rather than investing in anonymous companies, we need to invest in people and businesses close to home. The world food crisis, global warming and reliance on oil are other examples of how the status quo is causing us harm.

Further, the local living economy can be a focal point for bringing together both sides of the political spectrum, Wicks said. The Right values self-reliance. The Left values community. The common ground is in building a self-reliant community.

Wicks spoke of her own journey in founding White Dog Cafe, which started on the first floor of her house and in her back yard, where she put out lawn chairs and an old picnic table. If customers needed to use the restroom, they went up to the one the family used on the second floor. She kept the day’s earnings under her pillow. It was a homey place, literally.

Today, the cafe is housed in three adjacent brownstones, with an additional gift shop called the Black Cat. It’s a $5 million business employing 100 workers, with the shared mission of serving customers, employees, the community and nature.

Early on in her venture she discovered how the short distance between her home and her business made it easy to see the impact of her decisions, whether it was getting customer feedback on the color of her curtains or deciding to pay her workers a living wage because she encountered them every day and knew about their lives.

Wicks also urged the audience to consider redefining measures of success. The traditional measure is continual financial growth. But what if growth were measured in other ways: By having more fun, or deepening relationships, or growing your consciousness? So the cafe started a speaker series, for example, inviting recent immigrants in to talk about their experiences, or a lesbian couple to talk about adopting a child – different ways to show the community’s interconnectedness.

That interconnectedness also caused her to realize there was no such thing as a single sustainable business. Rather, there needs to be a sustainable system. Nature is cooperative, she noted, and businesses can be, too. One example: When several locally owned coffeeshops realized their main competitor was Starbucks, they pooled resources to buy mugs that displayed all of their different logos – a marketing tool that none of them could have afforded on their own.

The Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia, which Wicks also helped launch, is another example of cooperation. It was formed by looking for the building blocks of a sustainable community: Food, energy, independent media, clothing, capital, green building and more. People were already involved in these various areas – the network helped connect the dots, Wicks said. They’d start each meeting by asking who had purchased something from someone else in the room. They’d make pledges at their annual meeting on things they’d do in the coming year to support each other and the community, things as small as starting a composting program. They’d be asked to report on their progress the following year. They educated each other about the different parts of the network, Wicks said, and educated public officials as well, especially newly elected ones.

Wicks’ vision for the national alliance, BALLE, began when she saw that progressive companies like Ben & Jerry’s were being bought by large corporations. This was concentrating wealth and power even further, and as a nation we were forgetting the important issue of ownership in a democracy. “The more owners we have,” she said, “the more freedom we have.”

Wicks founded the alliance in 2001, hoping to build an intricate web of local networks, globally connected through fair trade relationships. Today, there are 60 BALLE affiliated networks, including Think Local First here in Washtenaw County.

Think Local First Annual Meeting

Before Wicks spoke, the group held its annual meeting at the same location. Richard Bellas, president of the board and owner of Van Boven Shoes, urged members to give of their time, talent and treasure in the coming year to help build the network. Ingrid Ault, the group’s part-time executive director, gave a report on several initiatives, including the upcoming Buy Local Week from Nov. 15-22. Because of the current economic conditions, she said, more people are open to the message of supporting local businesses.

Judy Wicks talks with Paul Hickman, a Think Local First board member and owner of paul m. hickman, during Wednesday evening's event.

Think Local First suffered a setback when the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority didn’t renew a $12,000 grant this year that accounted for 25 percent of revenue. That’s prompted the board to try to come up with more ways to raise money, and a fundraiser is being planned to bring the film “Asparagus! A Stalkumentary” to the Michigan Theater sometime early next year.

Ault also said she was encouraged that two of the new city council members – Sandi Smith and Carsten Hohnke – are connected to businesses that are members of Think Local First. Smith is a partner in Trillium Real Estate, and Hohnke’s wife, Heather Dupuis, owns Vie Fitness & Spa. It’s important for council to recognize that local businesses are the backbone of this community, she said.

Randy Holtzman, the group’s treasurer and owner of Insight Financial, gave a financial report, noting that they needed to do additional fundraising to get them through the current fiscal year, which ends June 30 2009. He noted that there are 156 members in the network, but that everyone needs to help recruit more. Holtzman also asked members to volunteer for fundraising events and consider joining the board.

Richard Bellas of Van Boven Shoes and Bob Dascola, board member and owner of Dascola's Barbers.

Karl Pohrt, another board member and owner of Shaman Drum Bookshop, spoke about an idea he had for the network. At the board’s retreat earlier this year, they’d discussed the need to educate each other about the local living economy. Pohrt proposed starting a discussion group for that purpose, kicking off with the Andersonville Study of Retail Economics, which shows how a greater percentage of dollars spent locally are actually reinvested back into the community. He noted that he had watched the devastation of his hometown of Flint when GM shut down plants there decades ago, and that when he moved to Ann Arbor and started to raise a family, he vowed to defend his community from outside forces. “At age 61,” he said, “my politics are basically rooted in that.”

The annual meeting ended with an award presented to former Think Local First director (and current board member) Lisa Dugdale, for her work getting the group off the ground. Keeping with the Buy Local theme, the plaque was a framed ceramic tile from Motawi Tileworks.

Editor’s note: Another approach to supporting local economies is through local vendor preferences in bidding for government contracts, something discussed at the last county board of commissioners meeting.

Lisa Dugdale, right, receives an award of appreciation from Think Local First board president Richard Bellas. Ingrid Ault, the group's executive director, applauds.

Think Local First board members, from left: Karl Pohrt, Paul Hickman, Richard Bellas, Ingrid Ault, Cynthia Edwards, Lisa Dugdale, Bob Dascola, Randy Holtzman.