For the first time ever, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) will be holding its national, annual conference for independently owned, socially responsible businesses, here, in Michigan. The meeting, which is being called Real Prosperity Starts Here, is scheduled to take place in Grand Rapids this May, and, as of right now, I’m […]
I haven’t taken the time to look into the methodology of the study in any great detail, but, according to our friends at BALLE, the folks at the Maine Center for Economic Policy have completed a study showing that dollars spent at locally-owned businesses yield almost twice as much in the way of local economic […]
A couple of days ago, AnnArbor.com ran a story about the Occupy actions planned for Black Friday. I was quoted in the piece, as I’d announced that my friend Jeff and I would be walking around Ypsi with signs, in solidarity with the folks in Ann Arbor and Detroit, who were going into big box […]
As Mittenfest is right around the corner, and since we haven’t heard from our friends at the kids’ literacy and creative writing non-profit 826 Michigan in a while, I thought that I’d reach out to Executive Director Amanda Uhle, and ask what’s new. Here’s our exchange. MARK: It’s been a while since we’ve had anything […]
