8th Annual BALLE Business Conference

Lighting the Way to a New Economy

May 21-23, 2010 ♦ Charleston, South Carolina

Our Thanks to all Conference Participants!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our conference and made is such a success. We are grateful to our inspirational speakers who shared the solutions and innovations they are pioneering, to the sponsors who made the event possible, to the incredible team of local volunteers, to the staff at the College of Charleston, and to our super-star local network host, Lowcountry Local First.

Participants, please take a moment and complete our conference survey -- we appreciate your feedback!

What Participants are Saying...

What the Press and Blogosphere are saying...

For detailed media coverage of the BALLE conference, please click here.

Conference audio recordings and DVDs are ready for purchase...

All of our breakout sessions and main stage presentations are available through the Hungry Mind Recordings website.

Who was there...

415 participants from 5 countries, 4 Canadian provinces and 38 US states converged on Charleston to share in this experience.

We had strong showings from the following states:

67 attendees from South Carolina, 40 attendees from North Carolina, 32 attendees from New York, 28 attendees from both California and Pennsylvania , and 20 attendees from both Massachusetts and Washington.

We had large groups from big cities...

22 attendees from Charleston, 19 attendees from greater Philadelphia, 17 attendees from greater San Francisco, 12 attendees from greater Boston, and 9 attendees from New York City,

... and smaller cities and towns:

11 attendees from Gainesville, Florida, 8 attendees from both Carrboro, North Carolina and Lewisburg, West Virginia, 7 attendees from both Buffalo, New York and Star, North Carolina, and 6 attendees from Ithaca, New York.

Detailed Conference Summary

This year BALLE hosted its 8th Annual Business Conference in Charleston, world renowned for its warm hospitality, historic architecture, outstanding local food, and beautiful waterways. But the lowcountry of South Carolina and the Southeastern U.S. is also a hotbed of innovation for community economic development, and thus an ideal setting for this year's conference.

Forgotten mill towns are rising anew, tobacco farmers are converting their fields to sustainable local foods, local commodities like cotton are finding fair prices among socially minded consumers, family farms are being reclaimed, local businesses are learning sustainable practices to improve their bottom line - and the ties that bind communities and citizens together are being restored in the process. And the amazing thing is that this is happening in more and more and more communities…
 
In these uncertain economic times, BALLE convened a community of business owners and innovation leaders who are proving that things can and should be different!  Our economy ought to be by the people and for the people. The BALLE conference demonstrated how the new economy is being shaped at the grassroots level in local communities around North America.

Over 400 entrepreneurs and business owners, BALLE network leaders, economic developers, local government representatives and community connectors, gathered to explore innovative best practices in growing community health and wealth. We discovered inspiration, shared proven tools and successful programs, and explored how communities like yours are stepping forward as leaders of the new economy.

Conference Program

Our full conference program is available to view! Get full session descriptions and speaker bios here.

Off Site Gatherings