Reinventing economic development as if small business mattered
In cities and towns across the nation, economic development is at a crossroads. A growing body of evidence has proven that its current cornerstone-incentives to attract and retain large, globally mobile businesses-is a dead end. Even those programs that focus on local business, through buy-local initiatives, for example, depend on ongoing support from government or philanthropy. The entire practice of economic development has become ineffective and unaffordable and is in need of a makeover.
The Local Economy Solution suggests an alternative approach in which states and cities nurture a new generation of special kinds of businesses that help local businesses grow. These cutting-edge companies, which Shuman calls "pollinator businesses," are creating jobs and the conditions for future economic growth, and doing so in self-financing ways.
Pollinator businesses are especially important to communities that are struggling to lift themselves up in a period of economic austerity, when municipal budgets are being slashed. They also promote locally owned businesses that increase local self-reliance and evince high labor and environmental standards.
The book includes nearly two dozen case studies of successful pollinator businesses that are creatively facilitating business and neighborhood improvements, entrepreneurship, local purchasing, local investing, and profitable business partnerships. Examples include Main Street Genome (which provides invaluable data to improve local business performance), Supportland (which is developing a powerful loyalty card for local businesses), and Fledge (a business accelerator that finances itself through royalty payments). It also shows how the right kinds of public policy can encourage the spread of pollinator businesses at virtually no cost. "[The Local Economy Solution] presents an engaging story of the emerging localization movement by describing real people and enterprises doing real development."-Choice
"A practical overview of the untapped potentials of a substantial part of the economy."-Kirkus Reviews
"Michael Shuman, long a pioneer in the local-economy movement, has pushed the conversation forward once again, showcasing new tools for localists, new business models for entrepreneurs, and new development strategies for economic planners. A terrific resource for cash-strapped communities building wealth and resilience from the ground up."-Judy Wicks, author of Good Morning, Beautiful Business, cofounder of BALLE, and founder of the White Dog Café
"Michael Shuman has done it again. In The Local Economy Solution, he shreds the conventional wisdom about economic development and local business initiatives that rely on grants. His Rx: self-financing "pollinator" businesses. This one is sure to make some waves!"-Amy Cortese, author of Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit From it
"Shuman's book is critically important to anyone who cares about genuine economic development. Neither left nor right politically, it's positive and encouraging, while confronting head-on the challenges of the approach he has advocated for years. Unlike many economic development books that can be tedious, this one is engaging, even fun to read, like a good story told over a beer – but a practical story that will help communities reach a resilient future."-Michael Kinsley, manager, Rocky Mountain Institute
"Shuman's many followers in the new economics movement will relish this latest offering for its focused message, compelling stories, and coherent vision. He embodies the Gandhian dictum to both see the change and be it. Readers new to his work will be appalled to learn of the "counterproductive and corrupting" practices in mainstream economic development, and relieved to encounter the creative entrepreneurs who are "pollinating" the spread of locally rooted alternatives."-Di
