Jason Eaton's Local Economy Action Plan for his ward in Syracuse, NY. Presented at the 2009 Financial Permaculture Course in Hohenwald, TN - Learn more at http://www.financialpermaculture.org

1. An Action Plan for Building a Living Economy in Syracuse

2. LocalMatters2008
Mission
Vision
Strategies
Objectives
To build and maintain a sustainable, just, and efficient
economy for the mutual benefit of our neighbors.
A healthy local living economy of the people, for the
people and by the people.
Open Source, Group Collaboration, SystemsThinking,
Financial Engineering andWhole Systems Design
Creating wealth in our community by:
• Aligning incentives
• Promoting local ownership
• Building relationships
• Increasing the flow of information

3. TOOLS
Business Associations
Local/Sound Currency
Community Ownership/Cooperative businesses
Slow Food/CSA/SustainableAgriculture
LandTrusts & Real Estate Cooperatives
Circles/Neighborhood Stock Corporations/Exchanges
Community Databank
Bring it AllTogether

4. Jargon, Lingo, Mumbo Jumbo and Other Important Concepts

5. Vocabulary&Framework
1. This is OUR vision, notTHE vision.
2. If you hear a term you don’t understand – ask now.
3. If you hear an idea you don’t agree with – listen with open ears.
4. If part of what you hear is compelling – hold on to it.
5. If part of what you hear is in conflict with your principals – adapt
the idea to your principals.

6. One that exercises supreme, permanent authority, especially in a nation or other
governmental unit, as:
1. A king, queen, or other noble person who serves as chief of state; a ruler or monarch.
2. A national governing council or committee.

7. “A currency is only as strong as the confidence that people have in one another
to produce something of value.”
Robert Swann and Susan Witt, February 1995 Local Currencies: Catalysts for Sustainable Regional Economies. E.F. Schumacher website:
Retrieved Dec 17, 2008

8. Features
 100%Voluntary Participation
 Does not violate autonomy
 Does not risk proprietary/personal information
 Exclusively by and for LOCAL businesses
 Small (neighborhood) scale builds trust and relationships

9. Benefits
For Producers
• Economies of Scale
• Purchasing Power
• Manage Redundancy
• Supply Chain Integration
• Performance Feedback
• Customer Loyalty
• Improved Profitability
• Competitive Pricing
• Join Marketing/Branding
• Build Social/FinancialCapital
For Consumers
• Easily Identify Local Firms
• Improved Pricing
• Relevant Goods & Services
• Better Jobs
• Higher Incomes
• Reputation Networking
• Enhanced Real EstateValues
• ReducedTravel
“An opportunity for producers and consumers to sit down at the table and figure out how they can help one another.”
-R. Steiner

10. PossibleOutcomes
 Local Business Directory & Maps
 Coupons, GiftCertificates, Currency
Redeemable at Participating Firms
 Joint Ad Campaigns
 Rating/Review System
 Online Store/Catalog

11. Examples
 Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)
www.livingeconomies.org
 American Independent Business Alliance (AIBA)
www.amiba.net
 Greater Syracuse: Chamber of Commerce
www.syracusechamber.com
 Collingswood, NJ: Chamber of Commerce
www.collingswood.com

12. What is money?

13. WhatIsCurrency?
cur⋅ren⋅cy
–noun, plural -cies.
1. something that is used as a medium of exchange; money.
2. general acceptance; prevalence; vogue.
3. a time or period during which something is widely accepted and
circulated.
4. the fact or quality of being widely accepted and circulated from person
to person.
5. circulation, as of coin.
currency. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved December 18, 2008, from
Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/currency

14. PrinciplesofLocalCurrency
 Represent a relationship between two people, a storing of value, or a
medium of exchange
 Currency has an inherent advantage over goods in that it isn’t
perishable; this affects the distribution of wealth (R. Steiner)
 Can be backed by hours, dollars, precious metals, goods, promises – or
anything people will put faith in
 Various currencies have been developed to address economic issues
specific to an area and/or community

15. Types of TargetedCurrencies
 Community –…supporting trade within a group of like-minded people…
 Local – …support a small town or a neighborhood within a large city. ..punctuated by the strength of physical
interaction and the chance … [to] cement communal bonds...these currencies can support ‘buy local’ programs
that provide leverage against … big-box retailers.
 Incentive / Loyalty – …often used by businesses to support return business and are issued based on buying
activity.
 Reputation – …non-tradeable currencies reflect a person’s standing within a particular community...popular in
large online communities like eBay, where there is a combination of interactions with near-strangers and some
type of risk...These currencies incent good behavior and reduce the free-rider problem,…your actions (positive
and negative) will be recorded.
 Social Justice – used to right a particular social wrong. In the case of food stamps, they allow less fortunate
people to afford food.Time-Dollars release latent skills in a community and incent members to exchange those
skills, providing self-sufficiency in communities ...
 Economic Development –These currencies are built to improve the flow of national currencies, often within a
geographic region defined by a city, county, multi-county region or other large trading area.They are often (but
not always) built in partnership with municipal or state governments, or multi-regions jurisdictions and councils
of governments.
With Edits -Targeted currencies network, 2005. Retrieved from http://targetedcurrencies.net/moreabouttargetedcurrencies
on Dec 17, 2008

16. Who’sGotYourBack?
Asset-backed/Hard Currency Fiat/Soft Currency
 Backed by a tangible
tradable item for which the
currency can be exchanged
 Issuance is constrained by
scarcity/effort
 Reflects past productivity
 Value is inherent
 Is backed by a promise or
threat
 Issuance is potentially
unlimited
 Reflect future productivity
 Value is tenuous, especially
over long time periods

17. Examples
 Berkshares
 Colls Cash
 Ithaca Hours
 Totnes Pound
 Chamber Bucks
 Burlington Bread
 More: http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/local_currencies/currency_groups.html

18. Berkshares
 Backed by the federal dollars
 10% discount
 Who really benefits?

19. CollsCash
“The campaign is designed to boost
sales in the Borough and to
increase support of local businesses
while offering shoppers a big
discount on everything in
town…Several phase one
customers mentioned they will buy
holiday gifts, get orthodontics,
remodel, dine out and buy more in
Collingswood because they will be
receiving such a discount.”

20. Que Bono:Who benefits?

21. CooperativeBusinesses
 Cooperative Federal CU
 South Side Food Coop

25. “Who’s your farmer?”
- Catherine Austin Fitts

26. SlowFoodinOurPlace
 CNY CSA
 Grindstone Farm
 Wiley Fox Farm
 Syracuse Grows

27. Who’s earth is it anyway?

28. Examples
 Jubilee Homes
 Forest Row (Berkshires) LandTrust
 Indian Line Farm (Berkshires) (1st CSA in USA)
 Champlain HousingTrust (BurlingtonVT)

29. Challenges
 Must show community benefit if tax exempt
status
 Housing: obtaining mortgages

30. Do you know 12 people you trust with your life?

31. InvestmentCircles
 Westcott Series 1 Circle 1
 Can we buy stock in a local organic farm?
 Can we make money on it?

32. OneFormat–ManyReasons
 Book Club
 Investment Club
 Support Group
 Rising Out of Poverty
 Movie Club

33. Improving the flow of local goods, services, and information.

34. TakingtheCommunityPublic
 Overlaying a new social order on existing laws and customs
 UsingWall Streets tools for communities
 The Solari Stock Corporation
 The A/B Share Model
 Permanent local control
 Creating local investment opportunities
 Establishing the needed flow of information
 Total Economic Return (TER)

35. WhatAre CriteriaforInvestmentReturn?
 Creates Jobs
 Is Beautiful
 Presents a Business
Opportunity
 Generates Income
 Heals People
 Heals the Earth
 Helps Children
 Has no waste
 Turns waste to energy
 Adapts
 Reports performance
 Processes feedback
 % Market Share
 Total Market $
 Net Profit Margin
 Raises Local Multiplier
 Reduces Local
Leakage
 Offsets Govt Spending
 Offsets Charitable
Giving
 Jobs Substituted
 Competitive
Displacement
 Lowers Barriers
 Creates Liquidity
 Improves Learning
Speed
 Economies of Scale
 Performance Feedback
 Popsicle Index Factor
 …
 …
 …
 …
 …

36. CommunityDatabank

37. No one of these ideas will have a large transformative effect

38. TogetherTheyRe-WritetheRules
 Dudley Steet Iniative
 Financial Permaculture
 Associative Economies (R. Steiner)
 TransitionTowns http://www.transitiontowns.org/
 Mondragon
 Solari Inc.

40. An Action Plan for Building a Living Economy in Syracuse