About BALLE

Mission  |  Vision  |  Guiding Principles  |  History

The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, or BALLE, is North America's fastest growing network of socially responsible businesses, comprised of over 80 community networks in 30 U.S. states and Canadian provinces representing over 22,000 independent business members across the U.S. and Canada.

BALLE believes that local, independent businesses are among our most potent change agents, uniquely prepared to take on the challenges of the twenty-first century with an agility, sense of place, and relationship-based approach others lack. They are more than employers and profit-makers; they are neighbors, community builders and the starting point for social innovation, aligning commerce with the common good and bringing transparency, accountability, and a caring human face to the marketplace.

Watch this inspring PBS Special "Fixing the Future"
that features BALLE and network member Sustainable Connections' work and
showcases our hometown of Bellingham, WA as the "epicenter of the new economic model."

BALLE'S Mission

BALLE's mission is to catalyze, strengthen and connect networks of locally owned independent businesses dedicated to building strong Local Living Economies.

BALLE'S Vision

Within a generation, we envision a global system of human-scale, interconnected local living economies that function in harmony with local ecosystems, meet the basic needs of all people, support just and democratic societies, and foster joyful community life.

BALLE'S Guiding Principles

• Think Local First: BALLE builds Local Living Economies by buying locally produced food, products and services, by putting our capital to work through local investments, and by supporting local arts and independent local media. Thinking local first improves the health of the environment, strengthens community, and contributes to functional democracy.
• Increase Self-Reliance: BALLE works to increase personal, community and regional security by building entrepreneurial capacity to produce basic needs like food, water and energy as close to home as possible. Self-reliance increases local resilience, saves energy and creates a foundation for world peace.
• Share Prosperity: BALLE shares prosperity, understanding that the fair and equitable distribution of resources is critical to the quality of life we seek. We provide meaningful living wage jobs, create opportunities for broad-based business ownership, engage in fair trade, and expect living returns from our capital.
• Build Community: BALLE builds community through local economic exchange, connecting producers with consumers, investors with entrepreneurs, and lenders with borrowers. Community life creates a sense of place and belonging that promotes security and happiness. Collaboration, cooperation, and fair trade between communities create a human-scale architecture for a sustainable global society.
• Work with Nature: BALLE seeks to integrate our activities with natural systems in order to create real and lasting prosperity. Every decision we make affects the vitality of our ecosystem, the health of all species and the availability of the resources that support life.
• Celebrate Diversity: BALLE celebrates and nurtures the natural diversity of the human family, ecosystems and economies. Diversity increases resilience, propels innovation, cultivates peace, and fosters beauty and joy.
• Measure What Matters: BALLE measures success by the things that really matter to us -- knowledge, creativity, relationships, health, consciousness and happiness -- rather than continuous material growth. We employ business metrics that support this philosophy such as Living Wages, Living Returns, and the Triple Bottom Line.