Stacy Mitchell reports on the growing trend of micro-financing, where small business people turn to the local community to get the funding they need to open restaurants or small shops.
Mitchell talks to Jessica Stockton Bagnulo and Rebecca Fitting, who were struggling to get a loan to open an independent bookstore in Brooklyn when the financial crisis hit.
The partners "...hit on an idea: they turned to neighbors and future customers to help finance the business, raising $70,000 in small loans in a few months."
Mitchell writes, "Although no hard data exist, the number of businesses relying on their customers and neighbors for financing appears to be on the rise. Just as CSAs have played a key role in the rebirth of small-scale farms, so too may these new community-supported enterprise models help launch a new generation of independent grocers, bookstores, and other neighborhood businesses."
Thanks to Stacy Mitchell
Read the full story: Beyond the Bank: How Local Businesses are Turning to Their Neighbors for Funding
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello