products, installations, insurance, retail goods and services alike."
In order to achieve the same aims of cooperative movements in other countries, the
cooperative movement in the U.S. may need to build on the work being done
strengthening local economies through support of local businesses. Kinsley (1997) has
written about how small businesses contribute to the strength of local economies by
creating new jobs and being more stable, committed and loyal to the community, even
through hard economic times. Local business also helps communities by increasing the
"multiplier effect" of dollars spent locally:
"When a dollar enters a community and is then spent outside the community,
its benefit is felt only once. If that same dollar is respent within the
community, its benefit is multiplied: it adds more value, pays more wages,
finances more investments, and ultimately creates more jobs. Thanks to this
"multiplier effect," each additional transaction in which the dollar is involved
creates just as much wealth as a new dollar from the outside, but relies on
local decisions made by people who care about the community." (Kinsley
1997)
Rather than isolating a community from the surrounding economy, supporting local
businesses can create new demand for outside goods and services and new supplies of
goods and services for export (this point is made in Jacobs 1985 as well as in Kinsley
1997). In addition, Kinsley (1997) writes, "A smart development effort looks for ways to
tie in more fully to the regional economy." Perhaps the most common form of regional
cooperation is the regional development organization, formed by neighboring rural towns
to provide staff support and assistance for members. These partnerships may be public
(local governments), private (for example, chambers of commerce), or both. (Kinsley
1997).
Kinsley (1997) describes an idea for promoting local purchasing in Oregon:
idea in the early '80s. One of its board members, Alana Probst, asked ten local
businesses each to list forty items purchased out of state. She then called other
local businesses that might be interested in bidding on items from the list of
400. In its first year, "Oregon Marketplace" created 100 new jobs and $2.5
million in new contracts. In 1987, this simple program blossomed into a
statewide computer-based service that now matches all interested purchasers
with Oregon suppliers. The concept works both at the local and state levels."
Another idea that has been replicated in about a dozen cities is an Independent Business
Alliance. The first IBA was started in Boulder, CO in 1998 by David Bolduc, owner of
the Boulder Book Store, and Jeff Milchen, an activist and founder of
ReclaimDemocracy.org (Mitchell 2003). The Boulder IBA (BIBA) is described in
Mitchell (2001), along with many of the services that it provides its members: marketing
materials (store decals, bumper stickers, bookmarks, and coffee cups), a Guide listing