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There are many business, professional, and service organizations that contribute to the community, provide valuable services, educate, and provide an on-going dialog about the important issues of the day. One reason for creating an alternative business alliance is to take a long term view and incorporate sustainability into the business mix. But there are some barriers to overcome. Here are some ideas to consider.

As a country, most of the policy and political decisions are based on the GDP, the Gross Domestic Product. GDP is an accepted, even worshiped measure of success because it is relatively easy to calculate, it's easy to understand, and has a large constituency.

But GDP fails in many ways because it does not measure what most people define as “success” in their lives. While health problems and crime add to the GDP, the absence of traffic congestion does not. Longer commutes add to the GDP, while more leisure time does not. Even environmental disasters, wars, and celebrity trials all add to GDP success.

For policy purposes, local governments define success in a similar manner to measuring the national GDP – local government measures economic activity and especially the resulting tax revenues.

But individuals measure personal success in broader terms – not only financial security but also their own “quality of life”. Quality of life can include such things as a low crime rate, getting a living wage, having healthy families, personal time, good friends, privacy, security, short commutes, learning opportunities, clean air and water, millions of stars in the sky, quiet, open space, and lack of congestion.

Many small business owners value quality of life as much as financial success. But we often mistakenly only value what we can easily measure. “GDP” is one of those mistakes. But a praiseworthy attempt to develop a quantitative alternative to GDP has been developed. It is called the “Genuine Progress Indicator” – GPI. Even though GPI is has generated little broad-based interest, it does point in a direction more aligned with the way many individuals and businesses define success. GPI is very difficult to measure, but it does bring into question the misdirected idea of basing policies merely on GDP or tax revenues.

The Genuine Progress Indicator is a new way for businesses and individuals to measure success. - Craig Hibberd

More about Genuine Progress Indicator . . .

10 Reasons Why Vermont's Homegrown Economy Matters And 50 Proven Ways to Revive It

by Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Published by the Preservation Trust of Vermont

This new 60-page publication is the result of several years of collaboration between the Institute of Local Self-Reliance and The Preservation Trust of Vermont.  Detailed here are specific reasons why locally owned businesses matter and practical ways to plan for a homegrown economy, foster revitalization and unite independent businesses. Mitchell uses practical examples from successful businesses and vibrant communities all across the states to illustrate the point that everyone benefits from keeping Vermont's economy local. This publication is in portable document form (pdf) and is available for free download.  It works best with Adobe Acrobat 6.0. Click for 10 Reasons PDF

Balancing Nature and Commerce in Gateway Communities

by Jim Howe, Ed McMahon (Contributor), Luther Propst (Contributor), Edward McMahon.

Available at the library and Arches Book Company: $22

"National parks and other public lands are big, fragile, economic engines for nearby gateway communities. In this book, communities and near-by public lands sometimes play nice together. The authors conclude: " . . . successful communities have transcended the 'growth versus no-growth' wars that characterize land-use policy in many cities and towns." - Craig Hibberd

The Fifth Discipline

by PETER M. SENG

With more than 400 pages of pretty dense material, the Fifth Disciple is a tough read. Stay with it. If you do, you may find yourself wanting to be part of a "learning organization". The discussions on change and resistance are particularly good. Peter Senge is one of the best systems thinkers around. - Craig Hibberd

Home Town Advantage Bulletin

The Home Town Advantage Bulletin is a bimonthly electronic newsletter reporting on efforts nationwide to stop chain store proliferation and support locally owned, independent retail businesses. Learn about land use policies and other tools that can protect the character and vitality of your hometown. Find out how other communities are bucking the "big box" retail trend and encouraging small-scale, homegrown businesses - and why this approach is proving far more beneficial to the local economy. Plus, news on e-commerce, independent business alliances, development subsidies, franchisee legislation, and all the latest resources.

Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to:
home_town_advantage-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com

Investing for Prosperity: Building Successful Communities and Economies in the Sierra Nevada

A new guide to economic and community development that offers hundreds of ways to achieve prosperity in fast-growing rural regions. This attractive and well-researched book brings together many of the latest innovations that rural communities across North America are using to grow their economies, improve their towns, and build their "social capital." One of the book's key findings is that communities in the Sierra Nevada can diversify and expand their economies in ways that were never possible over the last 150 years, thanks to new technologies and the market premium put on the Sierra's natural assets and livable communities. 148 pages

Available at the library as inter-library loan item

http://www.natcap.org/

Natural capitalism recognizes the critical interdependency between the production and use of human-made capital and the maintenance and supply of natural capital. The traditional definition of capital is accumulated wealth in the form of investments, factories, and equipment. Actually, an economy needs four types of capital to function properly:

Ripples from the Zambezi: Passion, Entrepreneurship, and the Rebirth of Local Economies

by Ernesto Sirolli

This is - in my estimation - a great book by a true visionary, Ernesto Sirolli. The two chapters in the middle of this book "The Esperance Experience" and "The Esperance Model Applied" are as good as business-writing gets. In Sirolli's world, the glass is neither half empty nor half full. Rather, the water is gushing over the top of the cup. The stories he tells here of enterprises 'facilitated' in the bleakest economic conditions imaginable...well, it can't help but turn you into an optimist. - Andy Orrock, Addison, Texas

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

by Thomas S. Kuhn

Thomas Kuhn is a rare, big systems thinker. "Paradigms" have become a cliché. Today we talk about "changing our paradigms" about as often as we "change our tires" and "change our minds". Here is a little trivia: Thomas Kuhn invented the concept of "paradigm shift" in 1962. This book is a classic. Kuhn is one of the giants of systems thinking. Read the source and find out how Copernicus caused a 30 year crises when he suggested that the earth might revolve around sun! Are we more advanced than the days of Copernicus? Probably not. This book is worthwhile exercise in humility training. - Craig Hibberd

Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants

by Don Taylor, Jeanne Smalling Archer,

Available at the library and Arches Book Company

Up Against the Wal-Marts is published by the American Management Association, definitely a pro-business organization. Despite it's inflammatory title, this is a "how to" book for small business. Even without the threat of big boxes, businesses are threatened by Internet sales and the ability to jump in a car once a month for a shopping trip. - Craig Hibberd

From the Book:
"This book is about survival and success. We want your small business to prosper even if you're right in the shadow of the giants. We don't want you to fail or barely survive. Furthermore, we don't believe you have to. . . . You can still build a profitable retail or service business."

Booklist Review:
What does it take for a small retailer to compete with the likes of the Wal-Marts, Home Depots, and various warehouse clubs? Price isn't the only consumer attraction, say consultants Taylor and Archer; to prove their point, they examine every facet of a business, from buying strategies to employee empowerment. All their suggestions--usually in the form of numbered lists--follow much-accepted financial, personnel, and marketing techniques. In promotional ideas, for instance, recommendations center on relationship building--sending a birthday card, establishing a frequent-buyer program, awarding customer suggestions, and so on. What elevates their advice above that of the well-known management gurus is the practicality of their ideas and the description of more than 10 small-retailer success stories. Barbara Jacobs

More on "Big Box" Developments

From David Conine's "Preserving & Developing Main Street Uptown Butte"