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.

How individuals and communities can profit from localinvestingIn the wake of the financial crisis, investors are faced with astark choice: entrust their hard-earned dollars to the Wall Streetcasino, or settle for anemic interest rates on savings, bonds, andCDs. Meanwhile, small businesses are being starved for the creditand capital they need to grow. There's got to be a better way.In Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How toProfit from It, Amy Cortese takes us inside the local investingmovement, where solutions to some of the nation's most pressingproblems are taking shape. The idea is that, by investing in localbusinesses, rather than faceless conglomerates, investors can earnprofits while building healthy, self-reliant communities.* Introduces you to the ideas and pioneers behind the localinvesting movement* Profiles the people and communities who are putting their moneyto work in their own backyards and taking control of theirdestinies* Explores innovative investment strategies, from communitycapital and crowdfunding to local stock exchangesWith confidence in Wall Street and the government badly shakenAmericans are looking for alternatives. Local investingoffers a way to rebuild our nest eggs, communities, and, justperhaps, our country.

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