Last November, NPR’s “Marketplace”
featured Bellingham, Wash., as the “epicenter of a new
economic model for a post-consumerist economy.”
“We have this model of reciprocity,” says Michelle Long,
executive director and one of the co-founders of Sustainable
Connections (www.sconnect.org), Bellingham’s grass-roots
local business organization.

What began in 2002 with just a few local business owners
today has more than 600 members who embrace business
with a sense of stewardship for the community—applying
sustainable methods that take into account a triple bottom
line: financial, environmental, and social.

And if you think a sustainable business organization is just
a bunch of hippies, think again. This past January at the sixth
annual all-members meeting, business owners, city officials,
local farmers, city planners, students, builders, and activists
mingled together for a common cause—co-creating a sustainable
local economy.

“First we worked on stewardship,” Long explains. “Businesses
pledged to make measureable improvements in four key areas:
building community, sustaining a healthy environment, offering
meaningful employment, and thinking local first.”

Activities or procedures were chosen by business owners
according to their particular industry and set of values. For
example, a sporting goods store might donate gently used
shoes to a local thrift store to help build a sense of community.
This same store might also reward employees with a bonus if
they came to work by bus, bicycle, or on foot to support the
environment. Each business would come up with its own set
of pledges for the year.

“We have broad campaigns,” Long explains. “Like this year,
we’re doing a Toward-Zero Waste initiative to channel the
outputs of waste toward recycling, reuse, or composting,
and also working upstream by precycling, consuming less, or
consuming differently so that you have less waste at the end.”
Sustainable Connections organizes half-day workshops and
business-to-business mentoring to support the businesses in
their effort. “Last year we did a Green Power community challenge
for businesses in our community. We supported them in
switching to renewable energy, and we went from .6 percent
of all electricity in the community coming from renewable
sources—sun, wind, and our local methane digester, Cow
Power—to 12 percent, which made us the No. 1 green-power
community in the country!”

Once it had a core group of businesses (150 or so) who were
committed to engaging in sustainable practices, Sustainable
Connections crafted a marketing campaign asking the community
to reciprocate by supporting those businesses.
To educate the community, Sustainable Connections
launched a “Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local” marketing
campaign focused on the idea of buying locally owned, made,
and grown goods. Locally, it became the hip thing to do. As
independent grocers and restaurants felt the community support,
they in turn began buying more locally supplied produce
and fish. This concept then spread to other businesses, the
reciprocity growing in the same way.

“The phrase ‘Think Local First’ came up at our first Business
Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE, www.livingeconomies.
org) conference in April 2003,” Long says. “About
100 people were there from around the country, and we were
talking about the need to support local businesses. It wasn’t
just about buying local, but also thinking local.”

A load of local manure?
Long offers a (local) example of what it means to “Think Local
First”: “Bellingham is in the 12th largest dairy county in the
country. We’ve got loads of cows and loads of cow manure.
We’ve had issues of environmentalists versus dairy farmers
because of manure getting into the watershed and harming
our water quality. We’ve got so much cow manure that it’s a
problem, and yet I went into a local garden supply store and
saw bags of cow manure that were shipped in from Texas. And
I just thought, ‘How crazy is that?’

“It’s not parochial, it’s not anti-trading. The point is to think
local first, not local only.”

And these days, Bellingham does.

According to a 2006 poll by Applied Research Northwest
of 300 randomly chosen households, the “Think Local First”
campaign was highly effective. The rule of thumb for a typical
advertising campaign is to expect a two- to three-percent
awareness response. Of the residents polled in that survey,
nearly 70 percent said they were aware of the campaign and
60 percent—three of five households—said they had changed
their purchasing behavior because of it.

Chuck Robinson, owner of Village Books and Paper Dreams
(www.villagebooks.com, also in Bellingham) has been a member
of Sustainable Connections since its inception.
“We have heard more people talk about shopping local in our
store over the last three to four years than ever before,” he says.
“Customers are asking, ‘Is this a locally owned business?’ I hear

 that report from other retailers as well. Five
or six years ago, you heard business owners
saying we are a local business, but you didn’t
regularly hear customers asking if a business
was locally owned. They are just better educated
about the benefits of buying local.”
And just what are those benefits, you might ask?

The triple bottom line
As in all businesses, the triple bottom line concept
keeps a watchful eye on the economic factors of a
business. But the sustainable business model doesn’t
stop there. It also factors in the environmental and
social impacts of the business as well. Supporting friends
and neighbors, meeting new local people, and watching the
local identity strengthen instead of being erased creates a
richer community—not just monetarily, but also socially and
culturally.

“What may be difficult for some retailers to grasp,” Robinson
explains, “is that the main reason behind starting or joining a
buy-local campaign is not necessarily to increase business.
“The local-first campaign for most of us, for the core people
who put it together, means a whole lot more that just increasing
business. What I have seen around the country is that
when a community loses local businesses, a whole sense of
community goes away. The people who are involved in local
businesses are typically the people who are involved in the civic
clubs, the churches, the temples, and all the other things in the
community, just because they’re active folks. If local businesses
go away, those kinds of organizations really suffer.”

“Sustainable business practices are good for the environment,
good for the economy, but they’re also just good for
human beings,” Long says. “Personally, one of the biggest things
we’ve found is increased happiness among the members.”
In Deep Economy, Bill McKibben writes about how at a
farmer’s market you have 10 times the interaction with another
human being that you do at a more sterile supermarket. He
cites studies showing that actually connecting with other humans—
beyond just the usual “paper or plastic” conversation
at the grocery store—makes you a happier human being.

Doing business with your neighbors and friends strengthens
a sense of community. Plus, it’s just more fun. Long shares an
enthusiastic business owner’s comments at a recent members-
only meeting: “He said be sure to tell them it’s a business
organization but, you know, it’s like effin’ family.” That’s not a
tag line you’ll likely hear from a multinational’s campaign.

Co-creating community
“I grew up in a little town,” Robinson says. “And I remember
when merchants gave away turkeys during the holiday season.

They would gather together at a downtown park on Saturday
afternoon, and that was a way to bring people together, by
making events out of these things. I see more attempts over
the last five years of businesses talking to one another, finding
out how they can help one another, trying to source things
from one another, seeing each other as resources rather than
as competitors. I think that’s a really important reason to
get involved in this kind of organization. Chambers of commerce
in some small communities still do that. The chambers
of commerce in most larger communities that I’m aware of
tend to be dominated by real estate and development interests.
Which is fine, but isn’t necessarily in the best interest
of local businesses. Their attempts are to build retail places
for national chains for the most part, and that’s fine if that’s
what they want to do, but that’s not where my business is
headed, or where I think the fabric of the community is best
protected.”

Even with businesses working together, community support
is crucial to the sustainability effort. Even the Sustainable
Connections circular logo is formed of interwoven components.
“You hear constantly how shocked the community is when
a store announces it’s going out of business,” Robinson says.
“They had no idea. People don’t realize how fragile small
businesses in general are even though customers consider
them to be extremely important. When a gas station goes out
of business, people may not like it because it’s inconvenient
for them, but most people don’t feel the connection to the
place they buy gas in the way they do with something like a
bookstore or small retail shop.”

Educating the community is key. “If people want a business
to continue in their community, they have to shop at that
small business. They can’t say, ‘Oh, we’d hate to lose Store X
over there,’ if they never shop in Store X, because there’s no
way it’s going to stick around on its own.”

Thinking outside the big box
The members of Sustainable Connections felt it was important
to raise the awareness of residents about shopping locally,
but also to raise their own consciousness as well. Those who
thought they were doing a pretty good job at thinking local first
found they could do better. They’d been making assumptions
about the local availability of certain items and services, but
with a little research found people in the area providing them.
The education process is ongoing even for the experienced
business owner.

After the organization had grown to about 50 members,
Sustainable Connections published a business directory,
“There’s No Beginning Too Small,” that provided members the
opportunity to get to know like-minded companies in the area

and to encourage them to support each
others’ businesses.

“It’s funny,” Robinson chuckles, “because
in the book business I’ve heard booksellers
complain for ages that their customers bought
books elsewhere for whatever reason—because
they’re less expensive or whatever—then in the next breath
hear them talk about what a great bargain they got on a stereo
system at a big-box store.

“I think you need to need to consider some of the hidden
costs of purchases. So you may be able to buy something less
expensive by sourcing it through mail order, but there are
some hidden costs there. We subsidize transportation costs
in this country, there are those kinds of things. Now most of
those products will have to come to town anyway, but they
come as part of larger things coming into town from a larger
group of people.

“It’s always important for businesses to look for ways to save
money, but I think you need to look at the bigger picture, too.
What are the hidden costs of what I’m doing? What happens
when I build relationships with local businesses, and if I expect
them to be my customers, should I be their customer, too? It’s
about building that type of community as well.”

Retailers will find that partnering with other local
businesses makes it easier to identify what’s made locally.
Retail store owners can become more localconscious
by asking a few simple questions: Do I support a
local bank or is my account with a national bank? Do I use
local printers for advertisements or flyers? Do I buy my office
supplies from a local office-supply company or the big-box
chains?

New Age retailers may think they have to look to imports.
This may not be true. Consider where it might make sense to
include local goods. Are there any local artisans that could
be included in the mix? Point out the special uniqueness of
these products that may not be available elsewhere because
they’re made locally.

Consumers—your neighbors and your friends—want to feel
that their community is special. The whole idea of supporting
the local economy gains momentum in an organic way, the
whole community literally “buying into” the idea.

No beginning too small
Sustainable Connections (and the community of Bellingham)
is enjoying the benefits of a successful sustainable business
association, but it didn’t happen overnight.
Sustainable Connections has had two lives, according to
Robinson. A local builder and a few other folks started a
group by the same name primarily about the environment
and green-building. As many innovative ideas go, it got off the

ground with a group of volunteers, and then
dissipated when those volunteers found
other interests.

Long and her husband Derek moved to
Bellingham right about that time (2001),
bringing with them a world of business and life experience.
Derek had worked at a Federal Reserve Bank and Michelle
received an MBA from the University of Washington. Together
they had owned World2Market, an online fair-trade business
that connected manufacturers with customers interested in
buying products that aligned with their environmental and
community values.

“Our fair-trade business was getting a lot of attention during
the dot-com era,” Long says. “We were making headlines in USA
Today, The New York Times, and on CNN, but this wasn’t leading
to big sales. We weren’t making a huge impact on people’s lives
as much as we’d envisioned or hoped.

“We were sitting at business meetings in New York and
Washington, D.C., talking and listening. We eventually said, we
have to go to one of these communities where we could really
make a difference. That’s the evolution of thinking that led us
to Bellingham. It seemed to be a better approach for what we
wanted to accomplish. It was making more sense to create a
globe of healthy villages rather than one global village.”

 

The Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE, www.livingeconomies.
org), of which Sustainable Connections is part, is a great resource for starting
a local network in your community. Its website lists the current community’s
network and, with nearly 60 networks in 23 states and two Canadian communities,
BALLE may have an already-established program near you. There is plenty
of room for innovation in this new frontier of sustainable cooperative venturing,
but there’s no point in recreating the wheel each time.

You can order an information kit ($20) to learn more about BALLE and the
steps to forming a local network, or an extensive manual on how to conduct an
effective Local First marketing campaign (based on the Sustainable Connections
program) for $100.
Sustainable Connections also offers resources—a DVD, a sample materials
package, and downloadable tips. For more information, visit www.sustainable
connections.org.

 

Start now
Following are tips for
starting a local living
economy, courtesy of
Sustainable Connections.

How to jump-start a local living economy

Who’s on board?
Find a core group of business champions
who share your vision. This is critical—
local business people trust and
respect other local business people,
and everyone wants to know who else
is involved. To find champions, take the
owners of a few different businesses out
to coffee, one or two at a time, and present
examples of how BALLE networks
have worked in other communities to the
benefit of local businesses and the entire
community, then let them talk. Ask them
for the names of other local business owners
you could approach together.

Local bookstores, food cooperatives, community
newspapers, local hardware, drug,
and office supply stores, and neighborhood
coffee shops make great prospects.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. If there is a local
sustainable business group in your community
that shares your ideals, talk to them
about joining efforts and becoming the BALLE
network for your area.

After a couple of months you may have five
or six businesses interested in moving forward.
Call a first steering committee meeting. A great
early activity is to take an inventory of what local
resources are available to meet basic community
needs in a sustainable way—food, clothing,
energy, housing, transportation, finance, media,
arts/culture, education, and waste disposal—and
to consider how they can be supported, promoted,
and connected.

Build momentum
As you evolve to a membership organization with member benefits
and services, we recommend developing a firm framework
before you begin accepting member dues. People like to know
what they’re getting for their dues and what everyone else is getting
at various levels of dues. Sample dues structures are available
on the BALLE website in the members-only section.

Because your services and member benefits will still be developing
early on, we also recommend starting with a membership
discount for anyone who joins before some future event, perhaps
six months out. Try offering a 25-percent-off membership
while you are still developing programs and services. Designing
a brochure and website content before you ask for dues is also
comforting to people. They like to know their money is going to
a “real” organization!

Offer in-kind memberships for early needs such as graphic
design, printing, office space, food for events, and advertising.
Offer payment plans or “scholarships” for fledgling businesses.
(Encourage others to contribute to your “scholarship” fund.)
At your kickoff event, charge a significantly reduced rate for
members (such as $15 for general admission, $5 for members).
People will ask what it takes to be a member!

Generate media coverage. People will take your work more
seriously if you’ve been covered in the media.
Be positive and inclusive! Look for solutions and build community.
Don’t criticize or contribute to divisiveness. Stress what
you are for, not what you are against.

Raising the green
Start by simply incorporating the organization and getting a local
bank account. Your organization can propose and do contract
work for government or other organizations and you can collect
membership dues and events income. Many of your members will
write off their membership fees as a marketing expense, so you
may not see early demand for 501c3 (U.S. nonprofit) status.
Once you are more established and interested in applying for
charitable grants from foundations, you may want to become a
501c3, entitling donors to tax-deductible contributions. You could
also consider partnering with another 501c3 that will provide you
with fiscal sponsorship.

An amazing amount of progress can be made with a few thousand
dollars, some examples, customizable materials provided
by BALLE, and committed steering committee members. With
significant volunteer time (15 hours a month from each steering
committee member and a volunteer coordinator able to work
almost half-time on organizing efforts), it is an achievable goal to
aim for enough funding (from underwriters, member dues, and
events income) to cover a part-time staff person six to 10 months
out from your first meeting.

Solicit underwriters for quarterly events. Your city or county
government may be supportive.

Charge admission fees for your public forums. Ask your steering
committee to chip in the funds for committee meeting snacks or
facilitators. You’re all in this together.

Businesses to recruit
Business owners are busy, and you need significant volunteer
energy to build local living economies and an organization in your
region. Yet business owners see great benefit in participating in
a network with other business owners. Businesses you will want
to recruit include:

· Local cooperatives/employee-owned businesses
· Independent businesses that advertise in your community
newspapers
· Businesses that fit within the building blocks of a local living
economy
· Sustainable agriculture and local food systems—natural-food
stores, food co-ops, local farmers, farmers’ market participants,
organic food companies, native plant nurseries, sustainable
fisheries, and sustainable foresters
· Housing and low-impact building—members of local greenbuilding
associations, local retailers of environmentally healthy
home supplies such as low-VOC paints, FSC-certified wood
products, and energy-efficient lighting
· Clothing—local clothing manufacturers and consignment
shops
· Arts and culture—artists, musicians, and independent film
theaters

Fair-trade businesses—crafts, coffee, and
chocolate
· Transportation—biodiesel co-ops, local bicycle
shops, electric vehicles, local transit
authorities, and car-sharing companies
· Waste and reuse—RE Stores and manufacturers
that build from reused materials
· Community capital—credit unions, CDFIs,
and locally owned banks
· Independent media—community newspapers
and independent radio stations
· Recreation and cultural exchange—museums
and local tour businesses
· Healthcare—naturopathic physicians,
acupuncturists, yoga and fitness, massage,
and other bodyworkers
· Energy—solar and wind
· Independent retail—bookstores, office
supply, hardware, computer, and drugstores

How green is green?
We are all at different places on the same
path. We have an opportunity because
local living economies tend to attract a wider
group of business owners than those who
see themselves as “green” or “alternative.” If
we reject a business owner who has genuine
interest in progressing from wherever they
are right now, we will never reach more than
the choir … and change isn’t possible without
the rest of the congregation!

Consider asking members to create an
annual “pledge to action” or some other
commitment to take a new step down the
path. Support them in taking those steps
by facilitating collaboration to make new
choices more convenient or affordable
through education and mentoring and
through publicly promoting the importance
of purchasing from community-based businesses.

 

Note: The 2008 BALLE conference in Boston
on June 5-7 will feature a number of speakers,
including both BALLE’s co-founder Judy
Wicks and Sustainable Connection executive
director Michelle Long. For more information,
visit www.livingeconomies.org.