Mark Maynard | investing in the future

Accelerating Community Capital (part one)… at the BALLE 2012 conference

By Mark | May 17, 2012

I spent the day in Grand Rapids, participating in a workshop on new models that are evolving for local businesses to raise capital from lenders, investors and donors, at the 10th annual conference of the Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE). What follow are my rough notes, for those of you who care about [...]

Posted in Economics, entrepreneurism, Uncategorized | Also tagged Awaken Café, BALLE, big box retail, biomimicry, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, Capital Institute, Capitalism, Catskills, Co-op Power, co-ops, Common Market, cool local initiatives, Coop Power, credit unions, crowdfunding, CSA, Cutting Edge Capital, Direct Public Offerings, Don Shaffer, Equal Exchange, Erin Kilmer Neel, financial reform, financing local companies, general store, Harlem, investing, Jenny Kassan, Jobs Act, John Fullerton, JPMorgan Chase, liquidity, Little City Gardens, Local Economies Project, local economy, local investing, Localvesting, Lynn Benander, Marty Gay, Michael Shuman, Michelle Long, micro-financing, Move Your Money Project, move your money to a credit union, New World Foundation, Oakland, off-grid, personal finances, Port Townsend, Port Townsend LION, Quimper Mercantile Company, regenerative capitalism, resilience, resiliency, RSF Social Finance, SCOR, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, Slow Money, Small Company Offering Registration, South Bronx, startup investing, Sustainability, unaccredited investors, Washington State, what is wealth, White Dog Cafe | 12 Comments

On the optimism and pity of the non-Americans passing us by

By Mark | February 27, 2012

My friend Pete and I eat lunch together a few times a month. Pete, who’s an academic, tells me of his travels to fascinating places like Malawi and Sweden, where he’s either conducting field research on the spread of parasitic diseases, or sharing his findings with leaders in the field of world health, and I [...]

Posted in Mark's Life, Observations, Uncategorized | Also tagged American flag lapel pins, back pain, best places to live, Canada, Department of Education, education reform, environmental protection, Gini coefficient, growth, immigration, income inequality, infant mortality, life expectancy, Malawi, Mitt Romney, neo-feudalism, no child left behind, optimism, parasites, Pete Larson, Presidential politics, public education, republican primary, RIck Santorum, Stockholm, Sweden, tax the rich, teaching for the test, the future of American cities, The Greatest Canadian, the state of the world, Tim Hortons, Tommy Douglas, Toronto, urban development, Vancouver, wind power, windmills | 14 Comments

How we fund our local startups

By Mark | November 1, 2011

I hesitate to start yet one more thread on the possibility that our friend Bee may open another restaurant in Ypsilanti, but there are a few things that have come up since my last post on the subject that I wanted to share here, on the front page. Regardless of whether Bee decides to go [...]

Posted in Economics, entrepreneurism, Food, Local Business, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Bee Mayhew, Bee Roll, Beezy's, diners, distributed risk, food entrepreneurship, Hardwick, High Mowing Seeds, Michigan Avenue, Murph, Pete's Greens, startup investing, Sustainability, Tom Stearns, Vermont, Vermont Food Venture Center, Wolverine | 26 Comments

Investing in America, and other ideas to put the country back on the right track

By Mark | July 5, 2011

I’m a sucker for a new Robert Reich video. I can’t help but post them. Tonight’s comes by way of a letter that I just received from Van Jones, announcing the launch of his Contract for the American Dream initiative. (This, as you’ll recall from our last discussion on Van Jones, is part of the [...]

Posted in Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged budget cuts, Contract for the American Dream, education spending, federal budget, infrastructure, invest in America, priorities, Rebuilding the Dream, Robert Reich, Van Jones | 25 Comments

What I’d like to hear a politician say for once

By Mark | March 17, 2011

Posted in Observations, Politics | Also tagged cartoon, cartoons by Mark, Governor of Michigan, governors, Mark's big ideas, mass transit, posts that are hard to read | 21 Comments

Tag Archives: investing in the future

On the optimism and pity of the non-Americans passing us by

How we fund our local startups

Investing in America, and other ideas to put the country back on the right track

What I’d like to hear a politician say for once

Connect

Recent Comments

Elsewhere

Arts and Culture

Friends

Information, News & Politics

Organizations

SE Michigan Blogs

Special Projects

Ypsi Living

Search