Locavesting

How individuals and communities can profit from local investing In the wake of the financial crisis, investors are faced with a stark choice: entrust their hard-earned dollars to the Wall Street casino, or settle for anemic interest rates on savings, bonds, and CDs. Meanwhile, small businesses are being starved for the credit and capital they need to grow. There's got to be a better way. In Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from It, Amy Cortese takes us inside the local investing movement, where solutions to some of the nation's most pressing problems are taking shape. The idea is that, by investing in local businesses, rather than faceless conglomerates, investors can earn profits while building healthy, self-reliant communities. Introduces you to the ideas and pioneers behind the local investing movement Profiles the people and communities who are putting their money to work in their own backyards and taking control of their destinies Explores innovative investment strategies, from community capital and crowdfunding to local stock exchanges With confidence in Wall Street and the government badly shaken, Americans are looking for alternatives. Local investing offers a way to rebuild our nest eggs, communities, and, just perhaps, our country.

Preface: Starting Anew vii Introduction: Cereal Milk for the Gods xv Part One The Economics of Local 1 Chapter 1 Motherhood, Apple Pie, and Political Theatre 3 How We Are Failing Our Small Businesses Chapter 2 Blue Skies, Pipe Dreams, and the Lure of Easy Money 19 Our Financial Legacy and its Unintended Consequences Chapter 3 Buy Local, Eat Local . . . Invest Local 31 Reconnecting Investors and Businesses Chapter 4 The Local Imperative 47 Leveling the Playing Field Part Two Experiments in Citizen Finance 63 Chapter 5 The Last Real Banker? 65 Relationship Banking Is Not Dead – Yet Chapter 6 The Biggest-Impact Financial Sector You’ve Never Heard Of 79 Community Development Loan Funds Reach Out to Individual Investors Chapter 7 A Model to LIONize 95 How One Pacifi c Northwest Town Engineered a Quiet Revival Chapter 8 Community Capital 105 It Takes a Village, or a Police Force, or Perhaps Some Farmers Chapter 9 Pennies from Many 125 When Social Networking Met Finance Chapter 10 Slow Money 147 Finance for Foodsheds Chapter 11 From Brown Rice to Biofuels 159 Co-ops on the Cutting Edge Chapter 12 The Do-It-Yourself Public Offering 181 The Allure of Public Venture Capital Chapter 13 Back to the Future 199 The Rebirth of the Local Stock Exchange Conclusion 221 Notes 227 Acknowledgments 243 Index 245