Visit our new website at: aslocalaspossible.wordpress.com. All economies are local, to paraphrase, and our individual choices are the single most powerful tool to use in creating strong local economy. Choosing to buy and invest "as local as possible" everyday will make a profound difference in the economic health of our hometowns.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
New Website for As Local As Possible!
As Local As Possible has a new website and we will no longer be updating this one.
Monday, June 11, 2012
ALAP Meets 6PM Thursday, JUN 14 @ MLUI
Hello all,
Just a reminder that ALAP will meet this Thursday, June 14 (6pm
@ MLUI) for a potluck and a full session devoted to group business including
strategizing on outreach to both entrepreneurs and potential new group members
and rotation of administrative duties. Bring your ideas and enthusiasm!
Friday, May 11, 2012
ALAP May Meeting Recap
May ALAP Meeting Recap
We are an informal group of
Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local impact and connectedness
with our money. We gather once a month for a potluck and to meet local
entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During our meetings, we
also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money locally and invested
for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and environmental). This is
an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot possibilities, including the
spawning of a more formal local investing club. For now, though, those
interested in pursuing local investments with other group members or presenting
entrepreneurs may do so independently of this ALAP group. Our meetings
are open to any individual, although we request that you RSVP so that we can
assure sufficient meeting space. We blog our progress @ www.aslocalaspossible.blogspot.com.
May 10 was the date for another fine ALAP gathering @
MLUI. The potluck was top notch and the discussion engaging. We
heard two brief updates from Paul Murray (LifeHouse project) and Bruce Odom
(Odom-Reuse) and then spent forty-five minutes with local agripreneur Nic Welty
of 9 Bean Rows.
Nic spoke to us about a project he is working on to better
connect small Leelanau county farmers with institutional buyers like
restaurants. He is developing a software app that can run on smart phones
and PCs and streamline communication, commerce, and logistics between farmers
and direct wholesale purchasers of any size. Nic hopes that by enabling
system efficiencies he can reduce waste, improve farmer recordkeeping and
improve traceability and local food safety. He envisions a one-year trial
for the app and expects to allocate funds raised for the project to initial
software development, farmer incentives, and technical support. Several
group members expressed initial interest in following up with Nic and will make
arrangements for a subsequent meeting.
ALAP will meet next on June 14 (6pm @ MLUI) for a
potluck and a full session devoted to group business including strategizing on
outreach to both entrepreneurs and potential new group members and rotation of
administrative duties. In the meantime, all ALAPers are encouraged to
help identify and reach out to triple-bottom-line minded entrepreneurs who
might benefit from speaking with our group.
Looking forward to keeping the momentum rolling and wish you
all a fine Northern Michigan weekend!
Zach
Sunday, May 6, 2012
ALAP MEETING 6PM THIS THURSDAY, MAY 10 @ MLUI
Hello As Local As Possible!
This is just a reminder that our next ALAP investment group
meeting is Thursday, May 10 at MLUI headquarters (148 E Front St, Suite
301). We will try a slightly different format this month. Our
potluck/social time will begin as usual at 6pm. From 6:30, there will be
up to three, 10-minute slots for those who would like to make a mini-pitch of a
project to the group. At 7pm, our featured entrepreneur, Nic Welty of the
artisan farm and bakery 9 Bean Rows (http://9beanrows.com/),
will have the floor for forty minutes to discuss a project in the works that
involves farm-direct ordering via mobile devices and the internet. We
will break @ 7:45 to clean up the potluck and reconvene at 8pm to discuss
amongst ourselves the night’s speakers and group business.
Nic is one of the rising stars of the local good-food
movement, so please spread the word. We encourage RSVPs (reply to this
email is fine) so that we can make sure we have sufficient space. I look
forward to seeing you all Thursday!
Zach
Friday, April 13, 2012
April ALAP Meeting Recap
April ALAP Meeting Recap
We are an informal group of
Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local impact and connectedness
with our money. We gather once a month for a potluck and to meet local
entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During our meetings, we
also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money locally and invested
for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and environmental). This is
an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot possibilities, including the
spawning of a more formal local investing club. For now, though, those
interested in pursuing local investments with other group members or presenting
entrepreneurs may do so independently of this ALAP group. Our meetings
are open to any individual, although we request that you RSVP so that we can
assure sufficient meeting space. We blog our progress @ www.aslocalaspossible.blogspot.com.
MLUI hosted another fine As Local As Possible (ALAP)
Investment Group meeting on April 12! We changed up the format a bit this
month to discuss group business during both the first (in between yummy bites
of potluck goodness) and third hours. Here’s a quick summary of these
topics:
*Membership: with several months under our belts, we
are now confident it is time to more openly spread the word about ALAP.
We will work on some basic content to help with this (including a combined
hand-out (paper and/or electronic) that appeals to prospective members and
fund-seeking, triple-bottom-line entrepreneurs). Such content will help
us get the word out to our respective social networks, local media like the
Express and TCTicker, and sustainability-connected groups like ISLAND, SEEDS,
and MLUI. In order to manage logistics, we will strongly encourage RSVPs
to make sure our current meeting space is sufficient.
*Speaker Sourcing: In addition to the combination
member/entrepreneur recruiting noted above, we will get the word of what we are
doing out to other organizations that regularly interface with entrepreneurs
(such as Northern Michigan Angels, SCORE, community bankers, etc). We
will be sure to emphasize that ALAP members are focused on making loans to
triple-bottom-line-focused local entrepreneurs.
*Meeting Format: we talked quite a bit about this
including frequency, structure, etc. For now, we’ve decided to skip the
May meeting as many of the regular ALAP members will be getting together in the
weeks ahead to work out an operating agreement for a local investment
club. So our next regular ALAP potluck will be June 14. We also
discussed taking July and Aug off and then from September alternating the ALAP
potluck and ALAP investment club (once formed) meetings. Depending on our
speaker sourcing efforts, we may alter the 7-8pm hour to include two 30-minute
entrepreneur slots rather than the current format of one 60-minute slot.
We also liked the idea of mixing in a local Pizza order from time to time to
give the potluck preppers a break. Generally though, we like the 3 hour
format of (6-7pm) networking/potluck/5-minute quick pitches, (7-8pm) featured
entrepreneurs, and (8-9pm) group business.
After our “working” potluck hour, we heard a five-minute
talk from ALAP member Paul Murray who continues to develop a business model for
his Life-House Eco Living System. Paul’s current concept includes a
20-room healing lifestyle center with year-round greenhouse food growing, living-foods
nutrition on-site, and ultra-green construction.
Following Paul, we heard about the new developments underway
at Selestial Soap. Joining Ruth were her new CEO/investor Stephen Ezell (www.eha-ventures.com), COO Bob Selkirk
(sorry about the spelling Bob) and guest Tom Krause who is helping the
Selestial Team with a possible commercial real estate deal. Ruth gave a
product overview of Selestial’s surprisingly deep product line which includes
surfactant-free liquid laundry detergents, softening rinses, stain sprays,
household cleaners, and even an all-natural insect repellent. Stephen who
runs a venture-capital advisory and joined the Selestial team only a week ago,
walked the group through his assessment of Selestial’s potential and the
introductory steps the new team is taking to quickly ramp up growth.
Those interested in learning more should follow up with
Stephen (Stephen@eha-ventures.com).
He mentioned that there may be a near-term real-estate investment opportunity
in “Phase 1” of Selestial’s restructuring as well as a possible equity
opportunity later this year.
For ALAPers interested in working on the planning of the
investment club, our next meeting is scheduled for 7:30 pm Wednesday April 25
at Barb Tholin’s home in TC (directions will follow for those on the investment
club planning group email list.) As mentioned above, our next ALAP
potluck will be Thursday, June 14 with the invited entrepreneur TBA.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Zach
PS: Here’s a link from Paul Murray on the
self-directed IRA front.
Monday, April 9, 2012
ALAP Meets This Thursday, April 12 @ MLUI
Hello ALAPers,
This is just a reminder that our regular ALAP potluck is
scheduled for this Thursday, April 12 from 6-9pm at MLUI HQ (148 E Front
St).
This month, we have a slightly different format in mind as
we attempt to catch up with some group business reflection/discussion
time. We will begin at 6pm sharp with a “working potluck” rather than our
normal informal networking time. During this first hour, we will discuss
group business including membership, virtual participation options (recording,
live-streaming, etc), meeting format, speaker sourcing, and local alternative
investment education. So please bring your ideas! Should we have
any folks interested in making a 5-minute speed-pitch on an entrepreneurial
project they are working on, we will allot time for those at the end of the
first hour as well.
From 7-8pm we will hear from the local natural cleaning
product extraordinaires of Selestial Soap (www.selestialsoap.com). I learned
a few days ago that Selestial is undergoing some exciting new structural
changes which we will get to hear about first-hand. A new investor/CEO,
Stephen Ezell of EHA Ventures, LLC (http://eha-ventures.com/1.html),
has joined Ruth and the Selestial team and will share with us his top-down
overview of the company and the vision he has to lead it to the next
level. Stephen has also agreed to spend a portion of his presentation
introducing his venture capital firm and how he approaches the analysis of
opportunities like Selestial.
In our third hour we will regroup and discuss the Stephen’s
presentation and spend remaining time revisiting topics raised during the
working potluck.
I look forward to seeing you all this Thursday. We
have much to discuss and much to learn from each other!
Here’s to a great start to the week!
Zach
Monday, March 12, 2012
March ALAP Recap
March ALAP Meeting Recap
We are an informal group of
Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local impact and connectedness
with our money. We gather once a month for a potluck and to meet local
entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During our meetings, we
also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money locally and invested
for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and environmental). This is
an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot possibilities, including the
spawning of a more formal local investing club. For now, though, those
interested in pursuing local investments with other group members or presenting
entrepreneurs may do so independently of this ALAP group. Our meetings
are open to any individual, although we request that you RSVP so that we can
assure sufficient meeting space.
March 8 was the date for another terrific As Local As Possible
(ALAP) Investment Group meeting! We gathered at Michigan Land Use
Institute HQ (thank you MLUI!) for a good mix of food and networking and
discussion focused on community-based investing.
After our opening potluck hour, we heard a five-minute talk and
product sampling from Dennis Bean-Larson. Dennis is a fixture (pun
intended) at The Mercato which serves as the home for the eclectic retail shop
and brick and mortar base for his Fixed
Gear Gallery, one of the country’s largest websites devoted to fixed gear
bikes. At our meeting, Dennis introduced his ERG! energy bar project,
which he hopes to take to the next level with product introductions at several
upcoming bike events. Those interested in learning more about ERG! can
reach Dennis at fixedgearwizard@yahoo.com.
After Dennis, Scotty Bruce of mifarmmarket.com took the floor.
Scotty gave us a spirited overview of his family business which has already
become a success story in Ellsworth. Mifarmmarket.com adds value to both
local farm/food entrepreneurs and discerning consumers with its gourmet food
baskets of All-Michigan-Made products. The company mixes live events and
the latest in search engine optimization/social media techniques to drive
revenue growth and economic benefit to the region’s boutique food producers.
Scotty discussed several of the exciting growth initiatives the company is
targeting in the years ahead and invited those interested in his company to
follow-up with him directly. Scotty can be reached @ scotty@mifarmmarket.com.
During our final hour, the group discussed the evening’s
speakers and planned for our next meeting on April 12 which will feature Ruth
Smith of Selestial Soap. We
plan to have a “working potluck” at this meeting from 6pm sharp and will
attempt to make a dent into a growing backlog of ideas produced by the group
(including the possibility of recording meetings, the merits of boosting the
group’s membership, leading triple-bottom-line “cash mobs”, building in
investment education into the meeting mix, etc). Several group members also
expressed an interest in pursuing an investment club format for those who would
like to pool funds and make joint investments. Anyone interested in
joining the steering committee for this, please contact me and I will forward
details and information for a meeting we will hold on April 5 to get the ball
rolling.
Thanks again for your continued interest and participation
and I look forward to seeing you in the weeks ahead.
Zach
PS: Two upcoming educational events related to
community capital to put on your radar:
1)
Balle’s Accelerating Community Capital
series hosts the latest on the topic of Community Supported Enterprise March 13
@ 1pm EST. More details of this event (with $25 fee) can be found here. For anyone in
the Elk Rapids area Tuesday who would like to join the webinar (and save the
fee), please let me know as I have already subscribed to the series and would
welcome you to join me at Goldeneye HQ.
2)
Orion Magazine call on local investing with the
author of Local Dollars, Local Sense Michael Shuman Thursday, March 22 @
7pm. Info on the call can be found here (thanks
for the tip Maura!)
Thursday, March 8, 2012
ALAP Tonight! 6-9pm MLUI
This is just a reminder that our next ALAP investment group
meeting is today, (Thursday, March 8) at MLUI headquarters (148 E Front St, Suite
301). Potluck begins at 6pm with Scotty Bruce of MiFarmMarket.com
our main presenter @ 7pm. Before Scotty takes the stage, Dennis
Bean-Larson will give us a “5 minute pitch” on an energy bar project he is
working on. Our final hour (8-9pm) will be reserved for group business,
including a discussion of future speaker candidates. Looking forward to
seeing many of you tonight!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Cash Mobs
Evan Smith passed along this link to an article on Cash Mobs - an interesting development in the buy local movement.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
February 2012 ALAP Mtg Recap
February ALAP Meeting
Recap
We
are an informal group of Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local
impact and connectedness with our money. We gather once a month for a
potluck and to meet local entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During
our meetings, we also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money
locally and invested for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and
environmental). This is an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot
possibilities, including the spawning of a more formal local investing
club. For now, though, those interested in pursuing local investments
with other group members or presenting entrepreneurs may do so independently of
this ALAP group. Our meetings are open to any individual, although we
request that you RSVP so that we can assure sufficient meeting space.
February 9 was the date for another inspiring and
thought-provoking As Local As Possible (ALAP) meeting! We gathered at Michigan Land Use Institute HQ
(thank you MLUI!) with several newbies in attendance and potluck quality that was
once again tip-top.
Towards the end of our opening potluck hour, we heard
five-minute talks from both Paul Murray and Andrea Maio. Paul is heavily involved in the local raw
foods movement and shared some ideas he is working on related to a housing
concept that combines healthy living options with green design and construction
(dubbed the LifeHouse Eco-Health Living System). Paul also shared his green smoothies made
from local ingredients he grows in his home year-round. Andrea, a film-maker exploring new online media
formats and crowd-funding platforms, shared her latest project titled Back to Your Senses. Andrea successfully raised initial
capital with crowd-funding platform Mobcaster.com to fund the first episode in
her series which she describes as “an episodic video series about people who
leave the safety of what they know for the sake of what they love…” Cinematographer Jeff Morgan joined Andrea and
gave our group a sneak peak of the first mini-episode which can also be viewed here.
After Paul and Andrea, we turned the floor over to our main speaker/entrepreneur
for the evening, Mark Moseler. Mark,
introduced to ALAP by Andrea who is featuring him in her Back to Your Senses project noted above, is in the process of
opening Northern Latitudes Distillery,
a craft distillery in Lake Leelanau. He
hopes to be open by Memorial Day after three years of planning. Mark’s business model calls for “hitting as
many palates with local ingredients as possible” and will utilize a custom
still from Christian Carl, one of Europe’s oldest still manufactures, that can
produce any distilled spirit. Mark
enthusiastically communicated many of the ideas he hopes to deploy as his
distillery opens for business and the positive impact he expects to bring to
the Lake Leelanau community. To date,
Mark has raised money for the project from personal resources, friends, and
family and expects to finalize his initial funding needs in the next few
months. For those interested in
following up with Mark, he can be reached at 231-352-4895 or mark@nldistillery.com.
During our final hour, the group discussed the evening’s
speakers and planned for our next meeting.
Ruth Smith of Selestial Soap
was chosen as our next speaker, but a conflict in her schedule will push her
back to our April meeting. For March 8,
Scotty Bruce of Ellsworth-based MiFarmMarket.com
has agreed to present to us. I heard his
“pitch” at a Northern Michigan Angels meeting and expect that our group will
enjoy hearing about his rapidly growing company. MLUI generously offered their space again, so
we will meet at 6pm for our potluck with Scotty scheduled to begin his
presentation @ 7pm. In the days ahead, I
will circulate updated Entrepreneur/Speaker submission forms and an initial
ALAP member roster so that we can continue to build our speaker pipeline.
Thanks again for your continued interest and participation
and I look forward to seeing you all again in March!
Zach
Friday, February 3, 2012
Reminder: Next ALAP Meeting February 9 @ MLUI
We
are an informal group of Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local
impact and connectedness with our money. We gather once a month for a potluck
and to meet local entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During our
meetings, we also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money locally
and invested for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and
environmental). This is an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot
possibilities, including the spawning of a more formal local investing club. For
now, though, those interested in pursuing local investments with other group
members or presenting entrepreneurs may do so independently of this ALAP group.
Our meetings are open to any individual, although we request that you RSVP so
that we can assure sufficient meeting space.
Hello all,
Just a reminder that our February ALAP meeting is just around
the corner. We will meet again at Michigan Land Use Institute
headquarters with a potluck beginning from 6pm on Thursday, February 9.
Our main guest speaker, Mark Moseler, will speak from 7pm about his business,
Northern Latitudes Distillery, which plans to open in Lake Leelanau this
Spring. We
are also finalizing plans for one or two five minute “blast” announcements from
local entrepreneurs for the last ten minutes of the six o-clock hour. After
Mark’s talk and Q&A, we will spend the 8-9pm hour discussing group business
with a focus on planning for future speakers.
Looking forward to seeing you all next Thursday. Have
a great weekend!
Zach
Friday, January 13, 2012
January ALAP Meeting Recap
We
are an informal group of Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local
impact and connectedness with our money. We gather once a month for a potluck
and to meet local entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During our
meetings, we also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money locally
and invested for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and
environmental). This is an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot
possibilities, including the spawning of a more formal local investing club.
For now, though, those interested in pursuing local investments with other group
members or presenting entrepreneurs may do so independently of this ALAP group.
Our meetings are open to any individual, although we request that you RSVP so
that we can assure sufficient meeting space.
Thursday, January 12 ALAP Recap
Thanks to all who attended last night’s As Local As Possible
Investment Discussion Group meeting and a special thanks to our invited guest speaker,
Steve Smiley of Heron Wind. After another delicious potluck, we gave the
floor to Steve who introduced us to his wind turbine manufacturing and wind
project development company, Heron Wind. Steve then discussed a Solon
Township wind project, now in the development phase. The proposed project
has a budget of roughly $7m and would consist of 4 Heron Wind-provided
commercial wind turbines with a peak capacity of 3MW (about enough to power
1,000 homes). A variety of investment opportunities are likely to emerge
with this project including higher risk funds to complete the development stage
(expected to be in the $50k-$100k ballpark). This phase entails securing
all necessary permits and the all-important power purchase agreement with a
utility company. Future investment structures to facilitate construction
and installation of the wind project depend on investor preferences, available
tax benefits, and funding options from traditional lenders. Steve
emphasized that community support remains a key success factor for projects
like this given reduced regional utility appetite for wind projects, and he was
excited to present to a group of new faces. Steve keeps an office at the
Commons in TC and is a wealth of knowledge in the energy economics and renewable
energy spaces. For those with an interest in learning more about Heron
Wind and possible investment opportunities with regional wind projects, please
contact Steve directly (smiley@heronwindmfg.com).
Other news announced during our meeting included:
*Maura relaunched her Sustainable Living Traverse City
website. Check it out @ http://SustainableLivingTC.com
*Zach will be participating in a Farm and Food Investment
Work Group Breakout at the Farm Route to Prosperity Summit on Feb 17 @ MLUI (http://foodandfarmingnetwork.org).
Those with an interest in possibly attending the session, please let Zach know
(zach@gldneye.com).
*Barb said to keep an eye out for February’s Edible Grande Traverse
which will feature a mention of ALAP. Thanks Barb!
*Bruce announced a successful “match” after his presentation
made at our January meeting. Interest on the 1-Year note will be made
100% in Bay Bucks!
February Meeting:
MLUI has graciously offered us their space once again for
our February 9 meeting which will begin with a potluck at 6pm. Speaker
TBA. For those who have
potential speakers in mind, please send them along the presenter submission form (if you need a copy email me at zach@gldneye.com). It was nice to see everyone last night and
for those who couldn’t make it due to the snow we look forward to seeing you
next month!
Have a wonderful winter weekend,
Zach
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Reminder: January ALAP Meeting This Thursday @ MLUI
We are an informal group of Northern Michigan citizens seeking to have more local impact and connectedness with our money. We gather once a month for a potluck and to meet local entrepreneurs and learn about their projects. During our meetings, we also share ideas for how we might keep more of our money locally and invested for triple-bottom-line returns (financial, social, and environmental). This is an experiment of sorts with exciting offshoot possibilities, including the spawning of a more formal local investing club. For now, though, those interested in pursuing local investments with other group members or presenting entrepreneurs may do so independently of this ALAP group. Our meetings are open to any individual, although we request that you RSVP so that we can assure sufficient meeting space.
Hello fellow ALAPers,
Just a reminder that our next As Local As Possible
Investing Discussion Group meeting begins with a 6pm potluck this Thursday,
January 12 @ Michigan Land Use Institute headquarters (148 E Front St, Suite
301). Our invited speaker/entrepreneur is Steven Smiley, President and
CEO of Heron Wind Manufacturing. The format will be potluck from 6-7pm
followed by 5 minutes for any “speed pitches” and then a 55 minute slot for Steven’s
discussion/Q&A. The 8-9pm hour will be available for any group
business including a discussion of future entrepreneur/speaker possibilities.
Looking forward to seeing you all Thursday!
Monday, January 9, 2012
The New American Localism
Take a look at this NPR piece on the shift to local everything.
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/13/143538472/home-sweet-home-the-new-american-localism
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/13/143538472/home-sweet-home-the-new-american-localism
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