Convening August 31, 2009 in Denver
to mobilize capital for local business
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the ruthlessly competitive nature of the corporate business model that we now live under is the source of much of the economic crisis that we are currently experiencing. the solution is a cooperative business model; but how do we get there from here? This session is a discussion of the problems we face, the nature and structure of the cooperative business model as a solution, and how do we transition from the old to the new.
There is temendous amounts of tax dollars being spent thru the Federal Stimulus package and other public spending but few government entities have committed to spending the money locally to stimulate our economies.
We will discuss an ongoing campaign to convince cities and counties to keep the money locally and explore how to convince the City of Denver and the State of Colorado to buy local and buy American.
Provide information on resources available through the Office of Economic Development International Trade and the Small Business Development Center Network. This session will provide contact information and descriptions of programs/services available to entrepeneurs in Colorado.
In this workshop you will answer five questions that will help you know whether or not social media should be part of your business strategy. Everyone will leave the workshop with their own plan for how to use social media -- whether it's part of their business strategy, or not; whether they're already using social media or are just getting started.
For most, using social media is not a matter of "if," but "when." Many business owners who have started using social media, though, still have questions around, "why" and "how." Some find the subject overwhelming, and the pressure to figure it out, excruciating. This presentation and workshop will put structure to the what, why and how parts. The workshop activities demonstrate the processes for choosing and using social media in a way that meets the needs of your business. Most importantly, everyone will leave with a customized plan that will move them forward from wherever they happen to be in the decision process about social media.
Building on the morning session, "Transition and the Local Economy, Part 1," we will now move into a World Cafe dialogue, in which we will brainstorm together responses to the following questions:
- What must be done now economically to prepare our communities for the effects of peak oil, climate change, and financial collapse?
- How can the Transition Movement support these necessary changes?
- What are the first steps Transition Initiatives can take in collaboration with local, independent business owners, local governments, and local communities to create more resilient and self-reliant local economies?
All ideas from this session will be recorded and made available to workshop participants and Transition Initiative leaders following the Summit.
The Transition Movement is currently active in 20 cities, towns, neighborhoods, and universities throughout Colorado, and is continuing to grow rapidly. How can these grassroots efforts best help to strengthen local economies while regenerating natural capital?
This introductory presentation will detail the Transition perspective on the economy and feature examples of what Transition Initiatives in Colorado and around the world are already doing to build greater community resilience and self-reliance. You will have an opportunity to share your own insights and ask questions of the presenters. This session will also serve as a precursor to a World Cafe style group brainstorming session later in the day.
“Given that thus far, national governments seem to be still wedded to the belief that ‘fiscal stimulus’ (i.e. throwing money at the problem and hoping it will go away) will work, it falls to those at the more local level to start considering their own responses and solutions. How the economic contraction will unfold in particular regions, towns and villages is best considered by the people and communities affected. Can we help build a new economics that has equity, environmental sustainability and human well being as its core objectives? It could mean more regional and localized businesses, focused on the area’s natural strengths. Where can communities find investment to develop new skills more relevant to a zero fossil fuel future? While many employers struggle with the realities of the credit crunch and peak oil, which types of businesses in the region could expand?” - From the Dutch Economics Addition to The Transition Handbook
Does your business use financing and leasing as a source of capital?
Would you like to recapture the money you give away to banks and other credit grantors for equipment, autos, furniture and fixtures, facilities, even disposables like office supplies?
Discover how to create and control a pool of capital:
~ that lets you BE the "bank"...
~ that lets you control your business's use of credit...
~ that lets you profit from your use of credit instead of giving your money away to lenders.
Successful small businesses have used this strategy and system for over a century.
~ It saved businesses from failing during the Great Depression.
~ It allowed small businesses to prosper during turbulant economic times like the ones we are experiencing today.
~ It takes advantages of tax law in unique ways that banks have used extensively for the past thirty years.
~ It is a secret that small business credit grantors don't want you to discover.
The panel of speakers will share the fundamentals of this amazingly simple and effective capital creation tool, provide concrete examples, and answer questions from the participants throughout the presentation.
How to engage your community for the capitalization and success of your business or non-profit organization. Discover multiple solutions to avoid unnecessary debt and investment and still make your projects fly.
Topics include:
• Community Capitalization, Cooperatives and Participatory Investment
• Pre-Sales of Future Production (a.k.a. Deli Dollars)
• Venture Labor and Sweat Equity
• Local Development Funds and Local Stock Issuance possibilities
• Microfinance and Local Currency Funding
• Barter and Trade Exchange
Creation of Small Business Advisory Council. This program could be built in conjuction with and participation and advice from elected officials, on local, state and federal level.
Create meetings with elected officials in small forum a minium of three times per year
Develop working relationship with elected officials to track legislation that impacts small business
Create a representative pool of people and companies for elected officials to seek advice from,receive input from, and include in special events
Opportunity for elcted officials and small business in their community to discuss their success, failures and how elected officials can help
tuggl.com is an exciting new web site that connects people with local businesses that are giving back to their community, allowing everyone to find the local goods and services they need while supporting causes that speak to their heart.
In this session, we will introduce tuggl to attendees, and explain how:
*1)* tuggl makes it possible for consumers to always know what businesses their friends recommend, which ones support causes they care about, and how to raise money for those causes just by using tuggl
*2)* businesses can now be rewarded with more customers because of their community involvement and commitment to environmental sustainability, control their marketing budgets by paying what they want for new customers, and only pay when potential customers contact them directly
*3)* local nonprofit organizations can increase donations, strengthen their relationships with current business supporters, and bring in new business and individual support, just by thanking local businesses that support their cause in any way.
We will then have an open discussion about how each member of the tuggl community - whether individual consumer, local business, or nonprofit - fits in to create a more complete, simpler way for the modern consumer to find the right local business, and also what we can do to make the tuggl community better. Feel free to join the conversation to talk about your experience as a community-oriented businessperson, a conscious consumer, or government/nonprofit sector employee, the use of technology in your work or purchasing life, and ways that we can work together to improve the community around us.
About the Speaker:
Matt Buchanan is the CEO & Co-Founder of tuggl.com. He has been working with small business owners for years to help them grow using the power of the web, and came to Denver in order to help the best and most responsible businesses do the same. Matt has worked as a business and government consultant and in the nonprofit sector, from Washington, DC to Cairo, Egypt, before returning to the United States to join the re-invigoration of the web technology movement. Matt became a Co-Founder of Sagax Media, LLC, which continues to help small business owners grow their businesses online, and moved to Denver in the summer of 2008 to start the social venture which became tuggl.com. Matt is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with a degree in Human & Organizational Development.
Session on how to get yourself noticed in the social media space so that:
1. inbound opportunities occur more frequently
2. you can find the resources you need
3. you get the credibility that you need and deserve
The session will focus on LinkedIn and Twitter for the kmost part.
A healthy ecosystem - one that meets our needs as well as those of other diverse species - is the foundation upon which all other sources of capital must build. This session will be a mix of presentation and group discussion centered around short and long-term strategies for repairing the state of our soils, air and water, with an eye towards opportunities for economic development.
The Mile High Business Alliance is in the first stages of developing a food business incubator for the Denver Area that will serve as a hub for the local food economy and the celebration of food culture. Come to this session to learn about our progress in getting the incubator off the ground and share your own knowledge and experience with business incubation.
Our focus is on scaling-up good ideas and supporting social enterprises run by low and moderate-income persons aged twenty-one to thirty-nine. The session aims to further an already existing process promoted by The Progress Group to support the next generation of Denver-Boulder area social entrepreneurs. These are people from underserved communities, who have the talent and vision, but lack the necessary resources to sustain and scale their ventures. The goal is to connect these innovative people and their good ideas to progressive business leaders and civic organizations with resources.
We'll look at creating a forum for low-moderate income entrepreneurs to present their game-changing ideas and seek support (mentoring, business development and financial investment) from more mature, socially responsible businesses. The intended outcome is the emergence of new self-sustaining enterprises that generate revenue, while creating good jobs and wealth within historically marginalized communities.
Local business is one of our key routes to a sustainable economy. And, like any sustainable business, local enterprises must communicate with integrity. Why? Because conscious consumers--the ones most likely to seek you out--can smell disingenuous messaging across a big box store. Your brand and message must honestly and accurately convey your business mission, personality, and offerings. But, you can't just create some high-flown phrases and filing them away; to maintain integrity, the ideals must translate to day-to-day tasks. Learn how to start connecting the ideals of authentic communications to your daily work through your spreadsheets, databases, Word documents, print materials, websites, social media, and more!
Format: either panel (with lots of time for Q&A) or a discussion group during which we build--interactively and in real-time--a mind map for a small business communications plan.
A working session whose end product will be specific actions that our organizations can take together, leveraging what we are already up to, to support each other and the local economy.
Discount Dough are dollars accepted by merchants replacing discount which make a product or service less valuable. They are either purchased or earned through surfing and searching the net. see http://findzip.com
The Personal or American Wealth card is an alternate economic median of exchange that can empower local, state and the federal government with unlimited resources.
see http://mybetterway.com
It's the new kid on the block, but social media is gaining a reputation as one of the least expensive, most effective means of marketing around. In addition to providing a cheap and easy way to give a face to your business, social media can connect local resources, businesses, and consumers in a meaningful and mutually beneficial way.
In "Going Local - Using Social Media to Strengthen Local Ties," I'll draw upon my expertise as a marketer and brand strategist to give the audience real-world takeaways on how to use social media as they connect and grow with local ties, exploring simple methods with tools like Facebook, Twitter, craigslist, blogs, and more.
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