3c hapter - Index of

46 Locavesting
It’s a powerful question, but one that begs many more. What
would these micro- investing models look like? How can we ensure
investors are protected? And what is a fair return? If the answers
are not yet clear, the promise is. “There is the potential for an
unexpected, rapid shift in investment,” says Michael Shuman, that
could pull a trillion dollars out of “business as usual.”
Politicians will continue to battle for bragging rights as BFF
(best friend forever) of the entrepreneur, and the Chamber of
Commerce will push its Big Business agenda on their behalf. But the
real solutions are taking shape far from corporate boardrooms and
the power corridors of Washington, D.C., as entrepreneurs, investors,
and citizens experiment with alternative ways of raising capital
for small scale, community- centered businesses. Rather than sit back
and wait for the government or some benevolent corporation to ride
in to their rescue, communities across the country are taking matters
into their own hands, devising innovative ways to nurture their
local entrepreneurs and established businesses. They are exploring
new models of ownership that align the goals of investor and business,
and even blur the line between customer and owner.
Some of these ideas are simple, harkening back to the way business
used to be done, such as the informal group of residents of
Port Townsend, Washington, that invest in local businesses, or the
democratically run cooperatives that are undergoing a resurgence.
Others ideas, such as crowdfunding—where many small investments
are aggregated from many people over the Internet—are
more complicated and must carefully navigate the regulatory
thicket to succeed. Similarly, an effort to bring back local stock
exchanges—the kind that served regional communities for much of
our history—faces signifi cant legal and behavioral challenges, but
offers exciting potential to reconnect local investors and businesses.
All of the efforts you will read about, however, seek to create
an alternative space where citizens, investors, and entrepreneurs
can come together to build healthy, resilient companies and communities
less vulnerable to the machinations of global conglomerates
and speculators. In doing so, they just may restore our faith
in capitalism.