Tag Archives: Zingerman’s

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Newcombe Clark

By Mark | April 10, 2013

A week or so ago, in front of an audience at Conor O’Neills, I had the pleasure of conducting a live exit interview with Ann Arbor-born commercial real estate broker turned University of Michigan MBA Newcombe Clark, who will soon be leaving Michigan for Chicago. As there was still a great deal that we didn’t [...]

Big Business vs. Small Business…. who’s right?

By Mark | February 28, 2013

Today, in response to an interview that I’d posted recently with the founders of the Ypsi/Arbor small business support group Small & Mighty, a reader by the name of KJC posted a link to an article titled “Small is not Beautiful,” implying, I think it’s pretty clear, that many of us are misguided in our [...]

Posted in Economics, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Mark's Life, Observations, Uncategorized | Also tagged BALLE, business, cooperatives, Dug Song, health insurance, Jean Henry, KJC, Michael Shuman, Seva, Small and Mighty, Starbucks, The Shop Around the Corner, You've Got Mail, Zingerman's | 38 Comments

Author Amy Cortese on the burgeoning “locavesting” movement, and how we can harness it in Michigan

By Mark | October 25, 2012

Next Tuesday, October 30, Think Local First will be bringing author Amy Cortese to Ann Arbor to discuss her book Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit From It. Following is my interview with Amy, who, in addition to being a published author, has written for the likes of the New York [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Economics, entrepreneurism, Local Business, Locally Owned Business, Retail, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged Accelerating Community Capital, American Sustainable Business Council, Amy Cortese, Arbor Brewing Company, blood funnel, blue sky laws, butchershop, buy local, CDFI, Chamber of Commerce, Clare, community development loan funds, Cops & Doughnuts, crowdfunding, CSA, Dante Hesse, economic development, interviews, investing, Jobs Act, Judy Wicks, Jumpstart Our Business Startups, Kickstarter, LION, lobbying, local investing, Local Investing Opportunities Network, Localist, locavesting, Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit From It, Main Street vs. Wall Street, Matt Greff, Milk Thistle Farm, move your money to a credit union, Obama, Occupy Wall Street, Port Townsend, Port Townsend LION, private placement, public offering, Rene Greff, SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, single-payer system, Slow Money, Small Business Administration, Stacy Mitchell, subsidies, tax loopholes, tax reform, The Big Box Swindle, The Brinery, Think Local First, unaccredited investors, Woody Tasch, Zingerman's | 7 Comments

Ann Arbor entrepreneurs Dug Song and Paul Saginaw exchange thoughts on employee ownership and the meaning of wealth

By Mark | June 7, 2012

A few days ago, I posted a video in which Zingerman’s co-founder, Paul Saginaw, said the following. “A business shouldn’t exist in order to create wealth. It should exist in order to give people better lives.” Well, that elicited a comment from Ann Arbor software entrepreneur Dug Song, who, among other things, had questions concerning [...]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Economics, entrepreneurism, Uncategorized | Also tagged Arbor Networks, Ari Weinzweig, Beyster Institute, Bob Beyster, business models, Chip Conley, corporate structure, Dancing Sandwich Enterprises, Dug Song, Duo Security, employee ownership, ESOPs, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, Leland Stanford, liquidity, National Center for Employee Ownership, ownership, Paul Saginaw, pirates, Predator UAV, revenue sharing, SAIC, servant leadership, startups, stock options, tech startups, the veneration of wealth, wealth creation, what is wealth, Zingerman's, Zingerman's Community of Businesses | 6 Comments

Zingerman’s: This is Ownership

By Mark | June 4, 2012

The following video, if I’m not mistaken, was produced to coincide with the recent BALLE conference in Grand Rapids, which, to a great degree, revolved around the subject of employee ownership. In this video, Paul Saginaw explains why, ten years after the launch of Zingerman’s Delicatessen, he and his co-founder, Ari Weinzweig, decided upon an [...]