Community Allies

12/19/2022

Getting on Google Maps is great advice for small local businesses.

Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value By Becky McCray Leave a Comment While they were pointing out HipCamp to us, our friends at Marketing Delmarva also brought up the enduring power of Google Local reviews and photos. (I added the bold for emphasis.) If you love a local place, put it on...

09/27/2022

What we're passionate about professionally, we're passionate about personally too. Community Allies CEO Ellen Shepard was one of the leaders of this effort to deter an Amazon Fresh grocery store from locating down the street from Harvestime, one of Chicago's best locally-owned full-service grocers, in a neighborhood already well stocked with food choices. Amazon's recent foray into storefront grocery stores follows its failed attempt to unseat independent bookstores. They closed their storefront bookstores in the last year. Surely the Amazon Fresh stores will follow within a few years, as Amazon leadership sets their sights on their next target.

Meanwhile, chain grocery stores are abandoning Chicago's underserved neighborhoods, leaving large swaths of the city without access to healthy food. We're excited about community-owned options like the Detroit People's Food Co-op (link in comments).

A lack of transparency surrounding the development at 4800 N. Western Ave. kept the ward’s community zoning process from moving forward. Last month, the deal was scrapped.

07/25/2022

Lessons here for collective impact: "By combining solidarity, identity, and moral shock, the movement was able to mobilize the masses and sustain their engagement throughout the summer of 2020. Movements that aim to employ outsider tactics like protest would be wise to learn from these mobilization strategies to attract a broad base of support and engagement."

Why were the George Floyd protests unlike previous movements?

07/18/2022

Bravo Tomas! "Three Los Angeles businesses were transitioned to “workplace entrepreneurs” as part of the demonstration project, saving 25 jobs, or one job per $1,000 of the grant funds used. By way of comparison, when Elon Musk set up a battery plant in Nevada, his firm, Tesla, received tax subsidies from the state of Nevada and other local government agencies of roughly $200,000 per job. Locally rooted economic development is a far more efficient use of public resources!"

Economic development often favors the flashy, high-tech entrepreneur. But if you focus on the non-flashy and make employees the owners, many more people benefit.

06/20/2022

Yesterday, we had a great time visiting the Berwyn Shops, a retail incubator that supports emerging entrepreneurs and helps them take their businesses to the next level. Each business gets a space in their own cottage, along with business training and support. The air-conditioned and heated spaces are open through Christmas, when they start being prepared for the next round of tenants. The Shops provide both a launch pad for small business owners and a pool of future tenants to fill empty storefronts downtown. Such a great idea! https://www.berwynshops.com/

03/31/2022

LOVE this.

"We've been met with delays, excuses, and inaction from our city government," says the Crosswalk Collective LA. Now, the group has taken matters into its own hands and hopes to spread a DIY message.

03/10/2022

This is pretty great.

When the building owner wanted to raise rents by $500 a month five years ago, they started organizing to own their apartments.

06/29/2021

This is the sort of compassionate, systems-changing, forward thinking that gives us hope.

As heatwaves rise across the US, mutual aid organizations are building a pipeline to help a new generation of climate migrants.

06/21/2021

Friends, one of the biggest hurdles for small business success is the monopoly power held by big tech companies, thanks to weakening of anti-trust laws. This week, the House Judiciary committee is deliberating on new legislation that would reinvigorate anti-trust. Please take a moment to contact these folks and let them know we need their support. It's easy to do via Twitter or by the email form in the link in the comments.

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06/04/2021

Love this so much!

It's amazing what we can do when we think small.

05/26/2021

Good news and so long overdue! "Lightfoot also plans to speed up sign and awning permitting, and legalize A-frame signs displayed on sidewalks outside establishments."

A food delivery fee cap, faster restaurant licensing and aid for the ailing cab industry: all measures the mayor will propose at today's City Council meeting to help businesses hard hit by the pandemic.