Calgary March 16: Calgary’s only sustainable business association, REAP, will officially launch the Calgary Community Capital Network on the first day of Down to Earth Week, March 28th.
Local capital networks – one of Business Week’s “big ideas” for 2010 – facilitate the flow of capital from regional people to regional businesses in order to meet regional needs.
“It is the critical next step in the evolution toward more sustainable local economies,” says economist Michael Shuman, author of the Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition and Director of Research and Public Policy for BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies), North America’s fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses.
“People want to do more than just buy local – they want to invest locally too,” he says.
Shuman will help launch the Calgary Community Capital Network on the first day of REAP’s Down to Earth Week, March 28, at noon, 3rd Floor, Calgary Public Library Central Branch (616 Macleod Trail SE).
Rob Sinclair and Lauren Mangion – members of the new network – are using local investors to finance their Calgary house and base for their urban agriculture business. “We created a company and the investors buy shares in that company and then the company buys the property,” says Sinclair. “We’re building social equity within the community.”
About Down to Earth Week:
Throughout Down to Earth Week March 28 – April 1, there will be noon time lectures on shopping, eating and playing locally as well as a Green Market and discussion of the benefits of local living economies. All events take place at the Calgary Public Library Central Branch.
And in partnership with LEAF – Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice – local restaurants are celebrating Down to Earth Week with samples of the best in locally sourced food, derived from sustainable practices that provide a high quality, healthy, affordable and secure food supply.
About REAP Business Association:
REAP – Respect for the Earth and All People – is helping to educate Calgarians that their day-to-day decisions can help create a more sustainable future. REAP’s 44 members are Calgary businesses that make ethical business decisions – buying green power, paying their employees a living wage, supporting local suppliers and giving back to their community – because they believe in corporate social responsibility.
For more information visit www.reapcalgary.com or contact REAP’s founder and president Stephanie Jackman at 403.862.2874 or stephanie@reapcalgary.com.
Stephanie Jackman
President, REAP Business Association
(Respect for the Earth and All People)
p. 403-862-2874f. 403-503-1114
“Be the change you wish to see for the world.” – Mahatma Ghandi
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