Local Investing

[Caitlin Quigley]

This discussion page is for our efforts towards local investing.

[Judith Culver]

I will be out of town Oct 31-Nov 7. We're headed to CA to visit our older relatives. Sorry we couldn't make it any other time.

[Laura J Sellens]

Woops, I guess I missed that one--totally fell of my radar. Looking forward to Sunday's meeting. Got ahold of James Frazier (LION) and can report.

[Laura J Sellens]

Here it is, let the editing commence:

Anonymous Survey
The Personal Finance Workgroup is exploring the potential for investing in local, sustainable businesses. We are conducting an informal, anonymous survey within Transition Whatcom to see what interest there is in local sustainable investing. We seek information about potential borrows as well as lenders, so please note there are two segments to this survey. Please feel free to respond to either segment.

Potential Investors
1) Would you be willing to invest in local, sustainable businesses?
a) Do you currently have any local investments (in other than businesses you own)
b) Would you invest in shares of a company?
c) Would you invest as a loan, which would be paid back in US Dollars, with interest?
d) Would you pay into goods-producing businesses for an increased value of goods (like a CSA share)?
e) Would you participate in buying farmland to lease to local organic farmers?
f) Would you put money into a “private label” certificate of deposit at a bank or credit union, which supported local sustainable businesses?
2) What amount can you imagine yourself investing locally (anything between $25 and $1million)?
3) Do you know any other Whatcom County residents who are not Transition Whatcom members who would invest locally? How many investors? How much would they be willing to invest locally?

Potential Borrowers
1) Do you have a local, sustainable business that creates greater resilience in Whatcom County, or a business plan for one?
a) Would you sell shares of you company?
b) Would you accept loans and repay in US Dollars, with interest?
c) Would you accept pre-purchase arrangements and give added value in goods in return, like a CSA share?
d) Would you lease land for organic farming?
e) Have you tried borrowing from local banks or credit unions? If so, what was your experience?
2) What amount do you need to borrow? Over what term?
3) Do you know any other Whatcom County residents who are not Transition Whatcom members who have local sustainable businesses or business plans for them? How many? How much do they need to borrow?

We thank you for your information!

[Caitlin Quigley]

I put the survey into a form using google docs. We can still edit it as much as we like. Here is the link.

Let me know what you think!

[Laura J Sellens]

Thanks Caitlin. I just got this off of Shannon Maris's Garden E-news, it's a Whatcom Co. business survey, for business owners managed by Northwest Economic Council and gives contacts at the end--Hart Hodges or Phil Thompson at Western Washington University's Center for Economic and Business Research--email at either [e-mail] or [e-mail]. We might want to collaborate with these folks.


Help Guide Economic Development Planning in Bellingham/Whatcom County

A 10-15 minute investment of your time can help guide a county-wide economic development plan.
Sustainable Connections is partnering with local governments and economic development agencies on this project.

Please go to http://surveys.wwu.edu/snapwebhost/surveylogin.asp?k=128510350398 to fill it out.

We'll be using the results of the survey, along with information collected through interviews and data from a variety of sources to set the stage for a regional economic development strategy. Survey results will also help inform decision makers and analysts in general.

Due to the collaborative nature of this project, you may see this request from multiple sources. It just means you are well connected! Please excuse the duplicate requests.
The survey will close on November 10th.

We appreciate your time and effort in completing the survey.

[Laura J Sellens]

I'd add 'anonymous' to the comment at the end about posting results.

Tying in with the MYM campaign--it would be an opportunity, if we have it together by then, to make a presentation about the investment network at our speaker event.

[Laura J Sellens]

I've sent the link to Derek Long, Hart Hodges, Phil Thompson, and Jennifer Shelton to see if they have any edits that would make results more useful to them. Judith, I know you're out of town, but when you get back, do you have Amy McIlvane's email? Would you either give that to me or send her the link to the survey for her review? Thanks, Laura jean

[Caitlin Quigley]

Thanks for the feedback. I've added anonymous to the results at the end. I just spoke to Judith and she suggested expanding on "like a CSA share" by adding "or a prepaid gift card," which I think is a good point, so I've added that as well.

Let's try to get this out soon!
Caitlin

[Caitlin Quigley]

Hi David,
I made some of your edits. Please refer to the actual survey link here to see the updated survey.

A question David brought up for the larger group: are we trying to restrict this to Transition-related investing/businesses or to the larger local business sector?

[Laura J Sellens]

Thanks Caitlin. By the way, I haven't heard anything from all those other folks I sent the survey to. Didn't really expect it.

To my mind if a business is local and sustainable, it doesn't have to be branded as Transition-related. What matters to me is the ability to invest in local sustainable businesses, not that they're called Transition-related, I can make that determination myself. I'm imagining investors in the community (I know at least one) who aren't members of TW, may or may not care to take the time to crawl inside the idea of TW, but who would see local sustainable businesses as an opportunity to jump at. See what I mean? If we specify Transition-related, we've probably just narrowed the scope of our entire project to folks who really grok Transition Whatcom, whereas if we say local and sustainable we may be able to interface with a way larger subset of the County.

[Angela MacLeod]

I'm just reading this thread for the first time. I'm wondering what is behind David's comment about transition related investments....Is this about keeping distinctions in tact that have the Transition name associated with them?....Anything with TW associated would also need to be congruent with our principles and vision etc.... I resonate with what Laura is saying above but would like hear more from David.

[Caitlin Quigley]

I think we can take for granted that TW members would be especially interested in TW investment vehicles. However, building a resilient local economy and a local investment network to support it may include investing in normal businesses - coffee shops, hardware stores, tailors, etc.
If we want to be able to share this data, say with the WWU contacts that Laura shared above, it would have to be "TW members have x dollars to put towards potential local investments," and not just TW investments. I agree that TW members would be more interested in funding a permaculture center than another coffee shop, but I think the data we collect should be general so we can share it better.