Almost ten years ago now, local entrepreneur Julia Collins decided to disregard the advice of many and open a small fitness studio in Downtown Ypsilanti, right next door to our local strip club. Well, it turns out that she was right. Her business, Ypsi Studio, has continued to grow since its initial launch, and, right […]
Tag Archives: Port Townsend LION
Julia Collins, the owner of Ypsi Studio, on growing up in Ypsi, taking risks, and being successful when people thought you’d fail
Posted in History, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti Also tagged Aubree's, bikers, Bill French, Cleveland, Deja Vu, Depot Town, EMU, entrepreneurship, exercise, fitness, Ford, gangs, John Berchman Collins, John Norman Collins, judges, Julia Collins, Pub 13, Sandee French, serial killers, Stacey Lei Krauss, The Alibi, Upper Peninsula, willPower & grace, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsi Studio 12 Comments
Accelerating Community Capital (part one)… at the BALLE 2012 conference
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, investing in the future, 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, 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 13 Comments