2012 Conference Agenda

Conference Agenda

Tuesday, May 15, 2012 | Wednesday, May 16, 2012 | Thursday, May 17, 2012

Friday, May 18, 2012 | Saturday, May 19, 2012

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Learn more about our conference tracks

Conference check in will begin Monday, May 14 at 1pm at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel

Find the hotel and our other conference locations here.

Tuesday, May 15

Pre-Conference

7:30 AM - 6:30 PM	Conference Registration Check In Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
8:30 AM - 12:30 PM (breakfast and sign-in from 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM)	BALLE Network Leaders Exchange The Gerald R. Ford Ballroom Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Registration is complimentary for current dues-paying BALLE networks, though there is a $20 fee for meals. The annual North American gathering for staff and board members of existing BALLE networks! This peer gathering is designed by network leaders for network leaders, and is an opportunity to share ideas, recharge, and plan for the year ahead.
2:00 PM - 6:00 PM	LLE Tour: Building a Closed Loop Recycling Program Pick up outside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Because of a partnership with Local First and the city of Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids community has decreased its refuse and increased its resident recycling by 50% in the past year alone. This innovative collaboration is a one-of-a-kind project that has been made possible because of a public-sector/non-profit partnership – mygrcitypoints – which is a hugely successful, all-local, closed loop recycling incentive program available to city of Grand Rapids residents. You’ll have the opportunity to see and hear firsthand from the Kent County Recycling Facility on how this program has impacted their production. We’ll then visit Cascade Engineering - the B Corp, family owned, triple bottom line manufacturing company that creates the single stream recycling bins for the city of Grand Rapids. We’ll end the tour at Brewery Vivant, where we’ll taste some of their delicious Belgian beer, and hear how they played an integral role in making mygrcitypoints a success and keeping it one.
2:00 PM - 7:00 PM	LLE Tour: Sustainable Manufacturing in the 'Furniture Capital of the World' Pick up outside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Did you know that high-quality furniture was Grand Rapids’ first claim to fame? Being the ‘Furniture Capital of the World’ gave West Michigan its strong economic start over a century ago, and still provides a strong foundation from which our local economy has grown and evolved. We’ll head West to Holland, and visit Herman Miller - a world leader in the sustainable furniture industry, and a company that uses 100% renewable energy. We’ll also see Haworth, and explore their company that focuses on zero waste emission and social responsibility. And we can’t visit Holland without stopping at Lake Michigan! Here we’ll take in the pristine beauty and unmatched scenic shoreline. Naturally, we will cap off the tour with a stop at one of our most prominent drivers of local commerce – a decorated microbrewery in downtown Holland, New Holland Brewing Company. Top of the page

Wednesday, May 16

Pre-Conference

7:30 AM - 6:30 PM	Conference Registration Check In Amway Grand Plaza Hotel
8:30 AM - 5:15 PM (breakfast and sign-in from 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM)	Accelerating Community Capital Workshop The Pantlind Ballroom Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Back by popular demand! Our hands-on workshop uses place as the lens to understand how to meet regional needs with regional resources, and identify the kinds of capital needed to get there. The day will feature promising pilot projects and innovators developing models that connect local businesses with local lenders, investors and donors. Registration includes breakfast and lunch. Cohosted by RSF Social Finance and Slow Money. Check out the agenda for the day here!
8:30 AM - 5:15 PM (breakfast and sign-in from 8:00 AM - 8:30 AM)	How to Build a BALLE Network Workshop The Gerald R. Ford Ballroom Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Attendees learn how local, independent business networks throughout North America are transforming their economies into community-centered, green, and fair places to live and work through a focus on green jobs, sustainable industries, investing locally, and buying local first. Registration includes breakfast and lunch, a 100+ page workshop binder, and a DVD of sample materials and program ideas.
11:30 AM - 4:00 PM	LLE Tour: Farm to Fork - Michigan's Sustainable Agriculture (Sold out!) Pick up outside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Join us as we give you the inside scoop on our community’s local and organic food system! Learn the ins and outs of our local food system from farmers and those in the restaurant industry as we enjoy lunch at one of Grand Rapids’ most true “farm to fork” establishments, Grove. We’ll then visit Lubbers Family Farm, and hear their family’s unique story on how they started farming sustainably, and where they see the West Michigan food system headed. You’ll see their bread making facility, where they make wholesome, handmade bread that is sold all over West Michigan, and we’ll also have the opportunity to visit their cheese house, where handmade cheese is created right on the farm. And because microbreweries are such a large part of our community’s culture and economy, we’ll end the tour enjoying a beer from one of West Michigan’s favorites – Founders Brewing Company. Lunch will be provided on the tour.
Conference Kick Off
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM	Welcome Reception and Conference Opening With hors d'oeuvres and beverages Ballroom A at Devos Place Delight in a riverfront reception featuring creative local hors d’oeuvres, brew and wine. Local musicians, buskers, street performers and performance artists will be sure to make this a ‘magical’ affair.
8:00 PM - 9:30 PM	Opening Night Presentation Ballroom A at Devos Place Passing of the Prayer Bundle Judy Wicks - Cofounder, BALLE; Founder, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia; Founder, White Dog Cafe Derek Long - Executive Director, Sustainable Connections Elissa Hillary - Executive Director, Local First West Michigan Local Welcome Welcome from Don Shaffer, President and CEO of RSF Social Finance Real Prosperity Starts Here with Michelle Long, Executive Director of BALLE Stories of Change: Local Economy Visionaries Share Their Journeys Laury Hammel - Cofounder, BALLE; Founder and Executive Director, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston; President, The Longfellow Clubs Judy Wicks - Cofounder, BALLE; Founder, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia; Founder, White Dog Cafe Paul Saginaw - Cofounder, Zingerman's Community of Businesses, BALLE Board Member Grace Lee Boggs - Philosopher, Activist and Visionary Organizer, James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership
10:00 PM - 12:00 AM	After Hours Reserve Wine Bar Top of the page

Thursday, May 17

Conference

7:00 AM	Good Morning Grand Rapids! Leaving from the lobby of the the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Start your morning with a run or walk led by Local First West Michigan member, Gazelle Sports. Stretch, warm up and hit the roads/paths for several different informal walks/runs for anyone interested in starting the day active. Routes and paces available for all different distances and levels!
7:00 AM - 8:30 AM	Continental Breakfast Fountain Street Church
7:30 AM - 6:30 PM	Conference Registration Check In Fountain Street Church
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM	Better Than Coffee: Inspiring Short Films Exploring the New Economy Fountain Street Church
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM	Living Economies Expo Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, Grand Rapids Community College Vendor and exhibit tables, book signings and special events
8:30 AM - 11:30 AM	Vision Sessions: Ownership Matters Fountain Street Church Back-of-the-Napkin Business Plan Competition Sponsored By Organic Valley Alissa Barron, Managing Director, BALLE Theresa Marquez, Chief Mission Officer, Organic Valley The Emerging Ownership Revolution Author and BALLE Board Member David Korten will introduce Marjorie Kelly of the Tellus Institute, for the public launch of her new book, Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution Opportunity Now! Amy Morris, Program Officer for Strong Local Economies Program at the Surdna Foundation will introduce Rha Goddess, Performing Artist, Founder and CEO of Move The Crowd Conscious Consumerism and the Cultivation of Ownership Maggie Anderson - Cofounder,The Empowerment Experiment; Author of Our Black Year There will be a book signing with Maggie and other authors immediately following her presentation in the Local Living Economy Expo. We Own It! Cooperatives, Community and Worker Empowerment Medrick Addison - Spokesman/Representative, Evergreen Cooperatives Building Entrepreneurs to Rebuild Communities Alfa Demmellash - Cofounder and CEO, Rising Tide Capital
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM	Lunch Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, Grand Rapids Community College
12:00 PM - 12:55 PM	Lunchtime Film: We Are Not Ghosts Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, Grand Rapids Community College (inside the conference lunch area) Fifty years ago, two million hard working people were living the American dream in Detroit. Then the auto industry and Detroit fell on hard times. But some have a vision for a new Detroit as a human scaled, post industrial city, and they are starting to make it real. Join Grace Lee Boggs and others in the film for screening and discussion, followed by book signing with Grace Lee Boggs.
1:30 PM - 3:15 PM	Interactive Sessions Locations vary, check session . Track: In This Together: Government and Local Business Session: Joining Forces: Model Partnerships between Governments and Local Business Networks Mika Music Library, St. Cecilia Music Society Description: Across the U.S., networks of local businesses are finding creative and innovative ways to partner with their local governments to achieve their collective goals. Whether working together on green energy campaigns, recycling programs, local farming initiatives, or passing local business friendly policies and incentives, networks and governments are collaborating in newer and deeper ways than ever before. Come learn how several leading networks are doing high level work with their local government partners and laying the foundations for future collaborations. Speaking: Moderator: Stephanie Greenwood - Sustainability Officer, City of Newark Elissa Hillary - Executive Director, Local First West Michigan James Hurt - City of Grand Rapids Derek Long - Executive Director, Sustainable Connections Leanne Krueger-Braneky - Executive Director, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Philadelphia Track: Mastering the Triple Bottom Line Session: ZingTraining on Servant Leadership Room 234, Student Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: A new economy requires new types of leadership, and what better purveyor of new leadership thinking than Ari Weinzweig, one of the cofounders of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses, which has spent the past three decades reinventing business from the inside out. This much acclaimed ZingTraining will teach leaders how to invert traditional leadership paradigms to place their skills and talents in service of their organizations, businesses, employees, customers, and the world. Speaking: Ari Weinzweig - Cofounder, Zingerman's Community of Businesses Track: The Community Capital Revolution Session: Growing the Money Tree: Empowering Accredited and Unaccredited Investors to Bankroll Local Businesses Room 420, Cook Academic Hall, Grand Rapids Community College Description: The case is closed! Wall Street is not serving either Main Street businesses or small investors who want to keep their money local. Fortunately, however, pioneers across the continent are developing numerous methods to navigate the adverse legal climate and empower local investors to put their community capital in service of local businesses. From legal-style investment clubs to relationship models, these techniques are tapping into local capital and creating new opportunities for accredited and unaccredited investors alike. Speaking: Moderator: Grant Abert - Director, Kailo Fund; Cofounder, Slow Money Wisconsin Carol Peppe Hewitt - Cofounder, Slow Money North Carolina Eleanor Kinney - Cofounder, No Small Potatoes (Slow Money Maine) Michelle Sandoval - Founding Member, LION; Port Townsend City Council Member Track: The New Pioneers: Steal This Business Model Session: From Food Hubs to Food Justice: Next Generation Food Aggregation and Distribution Models Room 348, Calkins Science Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: The local food movement is enjoying astronomical success, both from increased demand from consumers and increased production from local farmers. Unfortunately, connecting that supply and demand is not always easy. In response to this challenge, the food hub strategy has evolved to address the challenges associated with aggregating and distributing local food in order to improve access for consumers and to allow smaller local growers to participate in the hyper-competitive food marketplace. See how several different successful food hub projects have benefitted farmers and the communities they serve. Speaking: Moderator: Hill Grimmett - Executive Director, Be Local Northern Colorado Jim Slama - Founder and President, FamilyFarmed.org John Fisk - Director, Wallace Center at Winrock International Tatiana Garcia-Granados - Cofounder, Common Market Philadelphia Track: Stronger Together: The Rise of the Network Economy Session: Prosperity for All: Bringing Sustainable Business Development to Underserved Communities Presidents Room, St. Cecilia Music Society Description: There is no such thing as real prosperity without equality and justice. Inclusive economic advancement is essential and these leading visionaries are making sure that everyone’s needs are accounted for as we build the new economy. Whether it is providing access to capital and business education in underserved communities, supporting new entrepreneurs with green jobs training, or bringing together the government, nonprofit and private sectors to create an empowered workforce, these new economy leaders are truly creating prosperity for all. Speaking: Moderator and speaker: Amy Kedron - Founder, Buffalo First; Fellow, Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy, University at Buffalo Ashley Atkinson - Director of Project Development and Urban Agriculture, The Greening of Detroit Alfa Demmellash - Cofounder and CEO, Rising Tide Capital Randy Osmun - Executive Director, The SOURCE Track: Thinking Local First Session: Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt: The Latest Proof That Thinking Local First Matters Room 168, Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, GRCC Description: For years evidence of the positive impacts of buying local, supporting local business growth, and pursuing local-friendly economic development policies, has been stacking up. Come learn how several pivotal local economic studies concretely demonstrated the centrality of local business to the health of a community’s economy. This session will delve deeply into how these studies were done, how the results were used to create change, and how you can use the results and do similar research and marketing in your community. Speaking: Moderators: Radha Singla - Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, United Nations and Christine Ageton, Managing Director, BALLE Matt Cunningham - Cofounder, Civic Economics Bridget Lane - Director, Business Districts Inc. Colleen O'Toole - Managing Director, Andersonville Development Corporation Track: The Big Picture Session: Real Prosperity: Transformative Visions for Building a New Economy Ryerson Auditorium, Grand Rapids Public Library Description: This will be an unparalleled opportunity for session attendees to engage in a conversation with several of the world’s leading New Economy thinkers about BALLE’s economic vision and how to navigate the transition to its realization. The discussion will explore big picture challenges relating to ownership, finance, the purpose of the firm, movement building, and the language of transformation, and will reflect on opportunities to address these challenges as we work collectively to create real prosperity for all people. Speaking: Moderator: David Korten - Author; Founder, Positve Futures Network; Cofounder and Board Chair, YES! Magazine; BALLE Board Member Marjorie Kelly - Fellow, Tellus Institute; Director of Ownership, Cutting Edge Capital Gar Alperovitz - Lionel R. Bauman Professor of Political Economy at the University of Maryland John Fullerton - Founder and President, Capital Institute
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM	Break Beverage service available at session locations
3:45 PM - 5:30 PM	Facilitated Collaborative Sessions Locations vary, check session Session: Building Policy and Political Power for a Sustainable Economy Ryerson Auditorium, Grand Rapids Public Library Description: Wandering into the labyrinth of policy advocacy and engagement can be a daunting task, but this training workshop will give attendees a crash course in how to build political power and effectively communicate with elected officials and government agencies, and advocate for their agendas. How can you engage the media? When do you call or visit? When do you start a campaign, and how? Answers to all these questions and more! Facilitator: David Levine - Executive Director, American Sustainable Business Council Session: The New Economy and the 99% Room 234, Student Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: Awareness about wealth inequality and economic justice have exploded into the mainstream during the past year, and in order for the local economy movement to continue to flourish it needs to answer the concerns raised by the popular movements that have brought these issues to the fore. Participate in this facilitated dialogue about how the BALLE community can deepen the connection between economic transformation and the pursuit of justice. Facilitators: Ben Cohen - Social Entrepreneur; Philanthropist; Cofounder, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Chuck Collins - Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies Session: Leader as Host: Cultivating New Forms of Leadership Presidents Room, St. Cecilia Music Society (updated location) Description: Today’s problems are complex and interconnected. There are no simple answers, and no single individual can possibly know what to do. It’s time to stop expecting heroics from ourselves and to face the truth of our situation—that we’re all in this together. In this workshop, we’ll explore the leader-as-host: How does each of us use our role as leader to engage the intelligence and capacities of everyone in our organizations and communities? Facilitators: Deborah Frieze - Author; Board Member, The Berkana Institute Tuesday Ryan Hart - Board Member, The Berkana Institute; Steward of the Art of Hosting Session: Shift Your Shopping Campaign 2012: Moving the Economy to Main Streets Everywhere Mika Music Library, St. Cecilia Music Society (updated location) Description: This past holiday season over 150 local business networks including many BALLE and AMIBA members joined forces to create a shared-resource holiday campaign to promote the support of local business. The resulting Shift Your Shopping campaign was a significant success that laid a solid foundation for future collaborative holiday campaigns and greater collaboration among our networks. Led by two members of the 2011 campaign steering committee, join in to collectively set the vision and chart the future of this promising campaign. Facilitators: Joe Grafton - Executive Director, Somerville Local First Laury Hammel - Cofounder, BALLE; Founder and Executive Director, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston; President, The Longfellow Clubs Session: Proof Points: Data Collection and the Advancement of Local Living Economies Room 168, Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, GRCC Description: As a part of its ongoing mission to elevate the impact of the local economy movement, BALLE is embarking on a program to create a comprehensive data set to measure and quantify the impact of supporting and expanding local economic activity. Participate in this collaborative session to learn the latest status of this ambitious project and to assist in the formation and refinement of the metrics that will measure and advance the local economy movement. Facilitators: Radha Singla - Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, United Nations Christine Ageton - Managing Director, BALLE
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM	Shuttle Service Available from Fountain Street Church and the Amway Grand Hotel to East Hills Neighborhood (site of the Thursday evening festivities)
7:30 PM - 9:00 PM	Dinner on the Lawn Mangiamo! Enjoy an enchanted dinner on the lawn of a beloved historical mansion – now local restaurant – just outside of downtown in the East Hills Neighborhood, one of Grand Rapids' most vibrant shopping districts. Local music by The Fauxgrass Quartet and lawn games will make it an evening to remember.
7:30 PM - 12:00 AM	Shuttle Service Available from East Hills Neighborhood (site of the Thursday evening festivities) to the Amway Grand Hotel and the Aquinas Dorms
10:00 PM - 12:00 AM	After Hours Brewery Vivant (near Mangiamo!) Top of the page

Friday, May 18

Conference

7:00 AM	Good Morning Grand Rapids! Leaving from the lobby of the the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Start your morning with a run or walk led by Local First West Michigan member, Gazelle Sports. Stretch, warm up and hit the roads/paths for several different informal walks/runs for anyone interested in starting the day active. Routes and paces available for all different distances and levels!
7:00 AM - 8:30 AM	Continental Breakfast Fountain Street Church
7:30 AM - 12: 00 PM	Conference Registration Check In Fountain Street Church
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM	Better Than Coffee: Inspiring Short Films Exploring the New Economy Fountain Street Church
8:30 AM - 5:30 PM	Living Economies Expo Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, Grand Rapids Community College Vendor and exhibit tables, book signings and special events
8:30 AM - 11:30 AM	Vision Sessions: Collaborate and Flourish Fountain Street Church Interconnected Capital Joel Solomon - Chairman, Renewal2 Investment Fund; CEO, Renewal Partners Company Pioneering Entrepreneurs: Engines of the New Economy Introduction from J ay Coen Gilbert - Founder, B Lab Fred Keller - Founder and CEO, Cascade Engineering Wired to Work Together: The Collaborative Instinct of Humankind Charles Eisenstein - Author, Sacred Economics on our inherently cooperative nature Food Justice, Food Security and Collaborative Community Empowerment Malik Yakini - Executive Director, Detroit Black Community Food Security Network From Rust to Gold: The Elevating Alchemy of the Network Economy Amy Kedron - Founder, Buffalo First; Fellow, Baldy Center for Law & Social Policy, University at Buffalo
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM	Lunch Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, Grand Rapids Community College Don't miss more book signings at the Local Living Economy Expo during lunch!
12:00 PM - 12:55 PM	Lunchtime Film: GrowthBusters Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, Grand Rapids Community College (inside the conference lunch area) GrowthBusters: Hooked on Growth is a wake-up call for those who think business-as-usual is working just fine. See a film that could be a useful organizing and public education tool for localization efforts.
1:30 PM - 3:15 PM	Interactive Sessions Locations vary, check session Track: In This Together: Government and Local Business Session: Building Real Prosperity: Proven Strategies for Local Living Economy Development Room 168, Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, GRCC Description: Economic development theories are nice, but they don’t amount to much without proven success stories to vouch for their credibility. This session will share several detailed stories about how the local living economy approach has been effectively implemented in a variety of communities, and has yielded tremendous results. Come and kick the tires, look under the hood, and learn everything you need to know so that you can take the local living economies approach for a test drive in your community. Speaking: Moderator and speaker: Michael Shuman - BALLE Fellow; Director of Research and Marketing, Cutting Edge Capital; and author of BALLE’s new g uide to local living economic development Bruce Seifer - Assistant Director, Economic Development in the City of Burlington Vermont's Community and Economic Development Office Shane Barton - Program Coordinator, University of Kentucky Appalachian Center Guy Bazzani - President and CEO, Bazzani Associates Track: Mastering the Triple Bottom Line Session: Doing Good Work, Making Work Good: How to Be an Effective Triple Bottom Line Employer Room 420, Cook Academic Hall, Grand Rapids Community College Description: Most people and businesses want to do good, but it isn’t always easy to give equal attention to people and planet, when profit pays the bills. This is an opportunity to dig deep with several business leaders who are on the cutting edge of creating positive, healthy and meaningful work opportunities for employees. A company’s most valuable asset is its workforce, and caring for that asset is essential to maintaining a healthy triple bottom line. Speaking: Moderator: Laury Hammel - Cofounder, BALLE; Founder and Executive Director, Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston; President, The Longfellow Clubs Matt Bauer - President and Cofounder, BetterWorld Telecom Kenyatta Brame - Senior Vice President of Business Services and Chief Administrative Officer, Cascade Engineering Vince Siciliano - President and CEO, New Resource Bank Track: Mastering the Triple Bottom Line Session: ZingTraining on Business Visioning and Growing Deep Room 234, Student Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: Zingerman’s Community of Businesses has defied the norm for the past several decades by choosing to grow deep instead of wide. Instead of franchising their model in a shallow expansion around the globe, they decided instead to develop an interconnected place-based network of mutually supportive, independently owned enterprises that make up the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses. Come dive in to the Zingerman’s approach to growing deep in a community, and the extraordinary visioning process that is taking Zingerman’s the next level. Speaking: Paul Saginaw - Cofounder, Zingerman's' Community of Businesses Track: The Community Capital Revolution Session: It Takes a Village: Community Supported Enterprise Room 348, Calkins Science Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: Given the explosive success of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs around the world, a new generation of entrepreneurs is pioneering the Community Supported Enterprise (CSE) model for business ventures in all sectors. With the CSE model, local people can deepen their relationship with the businesses that serve them, and help ensure their success in the process. This session is an in-depth look at the how’s and why’s of using local financial resources to create local investment, equity, and ownership opportunities and economic vitality. Speaking: Moderator: LaTarndra Strong - Managing Director, The Celerity Group in Chapel Hill Melinda Little - President, Board of Directors, The Community Store in Saranac Lake Linda Ramsdell - Co-Owner, Claires Restaurant and Bar in Hardwick, VT Dania Flores - Green Jobs Case Manager, Co-op Power Track: The New Pioneers: Steal This Business Model Session: Localize This! Bringing Global Supply Chains Back Home Ryerson Auditorium, Grand Rapids Public Library Description: There are numerous reasons for businesses to pursue localization of their supply chains: cost benefits, reduction of environmental impact, quality of business relationships, improved impact on the local community, and more. Come hear how several trailblazing businesses have taken supply chain localization to new heights in food, fashion, and manufacturing, and learn how localizing supply chains can work for you and your community. Speaking: Moderator: Rick Chapla - Vice President of Business Development, The Right Place Janet Lees - Senior Director, SFMade Oron Benary - Co-owner, Brothers Drake Meadery Sarah Van Aken - CEO, S.V.A. Holdings Corporation Kari Bliss - Account Executive, PADNOS Track: Stronger Together: The Rise of the Network Economy Session: Community Revitalization through the Local Entrepreneurship Mika Music Library, St. Cecilia Music Society Description: In urban and rural communities everywhere, entrepreneurs are proving that locally owned and operated sustainable businesses are the key to improving the economic fortunes of regions that are fighting for economic recovery. These exquisitely creative and successful local entrepreneurs are having a big impact, breathing new life into their small towns, rural areas and big cities. These models will teach you how to leverage the power of local business to ignite a renaissance in your community. Speaking: Moderator: Kimberlee Williams - Principal, FEMWORKS, LLC Kaija Wuollet, Executive Board Member, Ponyride Cameron Ratliff - Co-Owner, Saxapahaw General Store Karen Kimbrel - Cofounder, Swamp Gravy Track: The Big Picture Session: Sacred Economics and the Gift Economy Presidents Room, St. Cecilia Music Society Description: Charles Eisenstein digs deep into the spiritual and community values that surround money and the thinking that underpins our current economy. Weaving together research into the historical and present-day myths, traditions, and interpretations of wealth and exchange, Eisenstein advocates for a spiritual component to our economic transformation. Come and see the man that David Korten called “one of the up-and-coming great minds of our time.” Speaking: Charles Eisenstein - Author of Sacred Economics
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM	Break Beverage service available at session locations
3:45 PM - 5:30 PM	Interactive Sessions Locations vary, check session Track: In This Together: Government and Local Business Session: Stirring the Pot: Transforming Local and State Economic Policy Room 168, Wisner-Bottrall Applied Technology Center, GRCC Description: There is a revolution afoot in the halls of state and local governments across the U.S. Policy advocates are passing legislation to support local businesses and create a business climate that nurtures the development of local economies that serve their communities. This session will focus on two specific legislative efforts – B Corporations and procurement policies that favor locally owned business – dissecting the models and showing how they can be applied in your community. We will also explore other policy changes in progress at the local, state and national level, accelerating the shift toward local living economies. Speaking: Moderator: Mickki Langston - Executive Director, Mile High Business Alliance Kimber Lanning - Executive Director, Local First Arizona David Brodwin - Cofounder, American Sustainable Business Council; Partner Brodwin & Associates Heather Van Dusen - Senior Associate, B Lab Track: Mastering the Triple Bottom Line Session: The Nail on the Head: Choosing the Right Legal Business Structure to Support your Mission Room 234, Student Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: The realm of legal business structures is a jungle of options and opportunities for businesses attempting to find the right fit to best support their goals and mission. Between traditional approaches like LLC’s and more innovative structures, such as B Corporations, co-ops, and L3C’s, this session will cover the practical nuts and bolts – and the bigger vision considerations – associated with choosing the best legal form for your business. These high-power consultants will also cover techniques for transferring ownership, such as employee stock ownership plans, and more! Speaking: Moderator: Jenny Kassan - Managing Director, Katovich & Kassan Law Group; CEO, Cutting Edge Capital Lynn Benander - President and CEO, Co-op Power Marjorie Kelly - Fellow, Tellus Institute; Director of Ownership, Cutting Edge Capital Track: The Community Capital Revolution Session: Show Me The Money: Finding Values-Aligned Investment Capital Room 420,Cook Academic Hall, Grand Rapids Community College Description: Complaining about access to capital is so 2011! Come rap with our crackerjack squad of financial experts in this extensive “curbside consulting” session that will leave no stone unturned as they walk you through the most effective strategies and avenues for pursuing the values-aligned capital you need to start, expand or operate your venture. Don’t miss this invaluable access to leading lights in the community capital field. Speaking: Moderator: Michael Shuman - BALLE Fellow; Director of Research and Marketing, Cutting Edge Capital Esther Park - Vice President for Strategy & Business Development, RSF Social Finance Leslie Ackerman - Director of Business CENTS (Community Enterprise Networking and Training Services), Alternatives Credit Union Vince Siciliano - President and CEO, New Resouce Bank Amy Cortese - Author of Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit From It Track: The New Pioneers: Steal This Business Model Session: Not Your Parents' Sharing: The Emergence of Collaborative Consumption Business Models Room 348,Calkins Science Center, Grand Rapids Community College Description: The decline of consumerism is one of the great under-reported stories in recent memory, but the rise of collaborative consumption businesses and new economic models based on sharing, as an alternative to business-as-usual, has been one of the hottest topics of the year. With incredible creativity, collaborative consumption businesses are revolutionizing our relationship with vehicles, tools, travel, clothing and just about everything else. Come see how these innovators are breaking new ground – and changing the ways we all do business – with some of the most original economic thinking around. Speaking: Moderator: Milicent Johnson - Community Engagement Manager, Shareable Magazine Adam Black - Founder, KeyWiFi Track: Stronger Together: The Rise of the Network Economy Session: All Roads Lead to Local: How Microenterprise, Chambers and "Traditional" Economic Development Organizations Can Build the New Economy Ryerson Auditorium, Grand Rapids Public Library Description: Come hear from innovative chambers of commerce and other “old-school” economic development agencies that are focusing on entrepreneurship, local ownership and environmental sustainability to build strong, resilient communities. Also learn from the microenterprise community about their growing "network of networks" for supporting small businesses and social enterprise. The power of microenterprise, market studies, historic preservation, entrepreneurship training and more are revealed! Speaking: Moderator: Suzanne Keers - Executive Director, Local First Chicago Matt Raker - Vice President Entrepreneurship & AdvantageGreen, AdvantageWest Ellen Shepard - Executive Director, Andersonville Chamber of Commerce / Andersonville Development Corporation Connie Evans - President and CEO, Association for Enterprise Opportunity Track: Thinking Local First Session: Next Generation Loyalty Cards and New Thinking in Think Local First Mika Music Library, St. Cecilia Music Society Description: An explosion of new Local First loyalty cards has swept the U.S. and Canada over the past few years, proving that there are numerous ways that this powerful tool can encourage local consumers to connect with their local businesses. This session will look under the hood of the most innovative styles and models that have come out of this amazing resurgence. Come and question the experts on how these handpicked loyalty card models could help your community to Think Local First. Speaking: Moderator: Nancy Quinn - Managing Director, Local First Milwaukee Jamee Haley - Executive Director, Lowcountry Local First Terry Garrett - Co-Manager, Sustaining Technologies; Executive Director, Sonoma County GoLocal Cooperative Katrina Scotto di Carlo - Cofounder, Supportland Timothy Wolf Starr - Founder and CEO, Columbus Small Business Beanstalk Allen Matsumoto - Partner, WonderGuides Track: The Big Picture Session: Media Panel - National Trends in the New Economy Presidents Room, St. Cecilia Music Society Description: It is easy to feel that the world economy is lurching from crisis to crisis, but there are lots of signs that the seeds of the new economy are taking hold. What trends suggest that a more sustainable and just new economy could emerge, and which innovations have the potential to get to scale? These accomplished authors, editors and publishers will offer their unique perspective on the shifts, currents and upheavals that are emerging around the world as the economy reinvents itself. Speaking: Moderator: Janda Black Keenan - Public Relations Consultant, Team Soapbox Sarah van Gelder - Executive Editor, YES! Magazine Neal Gorenflo - Publisher, Shareable Magazine Brian Back - Founding Editor and Publisher, Sustainable Industries
5:30 PM - 7:45 PM	Happy Hour and Closing Reception Rosa Parks Circle Close down the conference and unwind with local music, hors d’oeuvres and drinks in this gorgeous outdoor amphitheater in the heart of Grand Rapids. Come groove to the music of Afro Zuma, a ten-piece horn and percussion-driven, African funk Afro-beat band, and stay for the announcement of our Back of the Napkin Business Plan Competition winner!
7:45 PM - 10:00 PM	Dine Around Various Locations Enjoy Grand Rapids’ vibrant local food culture at several of the city’s best local spots. Dine Around maps and special deals will be distributed at the closing reception happy hour.
10:00 PM - 12:00 AM	After Hours Founder's Brewery Top of the page
Saturday, May 19 Post Conference
8:00 AM - 10:30 PM	LLE Tour: The Phoenix Thriving - Building Local Business Ecosystems in Detroit Over the past year, mainstream media has started to tell stories about the "revitalization" of Detroit through urban gardens, a growing creative class, and dozens of entrepreneurs building new businesses in their communities. At the same time, the city continues to face real challenges: a huge deficit, population decline, unemployment, a broken education system, and rifts between those who are and those who aren't able to participate in this renaissance. Join us for a day to explore some real stories of the ways in which Detroit's local business community participates from day to day in reimagining and actually building a new city, by building (and re-building) relationships with one another and with community members. We will highlight the many ways that even in the absence of a formal network, Detroit-based entrepreneurs find ways to work together and support one another and move from the realm of commercial transaction to relationships based on trust and mutual goals. Tour highlights will include Brightmoor Community Gardens and D-Town Farms, the Green Garage urban sustainability laboratory and business incubator, independent retail in the Cass Corridor, and thriving Latino community businesses in SW Detroit. The day will end downtown at a strolling dinner and celebration with Detroit business and community leaders at the local-focused, non-profit entrepreneur training restaurant COLORS-Detroit. Learn more! Top of the page

Conference Programming Tracks

Thinking Local First

Local businesses have long been a major driver of the North American economy -- over 50% of the private economy, and the source of a majority of new jobs. As the globalized economy continues to struggle, local communities have become the economic engines of our era. Learn why and how local ownership, local purchasing, and homegrown entrepreneurship is creating a global economic renaissance and rewriting the rules of real prosperity. Dialogue with the leading lights of Thinking Local First, and share strategies and success stories for cultivating mass appeal and awareness of the critical role of local ownership and local living economies. Explore the roles played by research, arts, culture, messaging, marketing, metrics, media, and more.

The New Pioneers: Steal This Business Model

In their ongoing quest to redefine business as usual, innovative local entrepreneurs are breaking the old rules faster than they can be rewritten. Tap into the latest and greatest with business models for localizing manufacturing supply chains, decentralizing energy production, sourcing local building materials, growing deep retail, re-building local food systems, and other game-changing entrepreneurial innovations from every living economy sector imaginable. See how the world’s most successful and cutting-edge economic adventurers are focusing on local assets and ownership, growing flourishing businesses in their home places, and transforming communities around the world.

Mastering the Triple Bottom Line

Not only is running your business with a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework good for people and the planet, it’s good for business! It isn’t always easy, but pursuing the TBL can be an invigorating and effective paradigm for taking your enterprise to the next level. Fortunately the BALLE community has a posse of business owners who have succeeded (and failed!) at making their ventures profit and grow while respecting the health of the environment and their communities. Get tips on what to do (and what not to do) to improve your business operations, measure and market your success, and move from surviving to thriving. It's one thing to start a business; it's another to stay in business in a tough economy. So, come learn from the experts how you can turn your business into a successful living economy leader.

Stronger Together: The Rise of the Network Economy

While every individual business can make some positive impact, the transformative power of businesses networking locally is exponentially greater. These networks can bring down the cost of purchasing renewable energy, re-build the distribution opportunities for moving local food to restaurant kitchens, or collaborate to create sustainable economies and more connected communities. Networks of place-based entrepreneurs and businesses are sharing ideas, spreading best practices, localizing their inputs and distribution, and harnessing the power of collaborative marketing. From non-profits dedicated to supporting place-based businesses to urban manufacturing alliances, young farmers potluck clubs, local economy entrepreneurship hubs, and everything in-between, these collaborations are creating local and regional value chains that are greater than the sum of their parts. The thread can be weak, but the web is powerful. Come see what these local economy spiders are weaving.

The Community Capital Revolution

While the global financial system has been in meltdown, real innovators have been busy pioneering methods for accessing capital in their communities and creating local investment opportunities. Undaunted by outdated regulations and bureaucracy, these financial gadflies are in the trenches developing new investment structures, changing policies, and getting all-out creative to set precedents for meeting local needs with local capital. Learn how to move money from Wall Street to Main Street through connecting local businesses to local lenders and investors, and investors to a "living rate of return” through support for local food, renewable energy, and independent retailers.

In This Together: Government and Local Business

Locally owned businesses are essential for creating healthy economies, and governments play a crucial role in helping them to grow and thrive. And entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones innovating! Policy makers and economic development professionals are devising creative new strategies to transition away from the attraction and retention of nonlocal corporations and toward a global network of thriving place-based economies. Come get on the cutting-edge of public/private sector cooperation in pursuit of common goals: creating living wage jobs, revitalizing communities, reducing ecological footprints, and enacting related policy at local through national levels in North America and beyond.

The Big Picture

The world is changing at an unprecedented rate, and the economy is transforming right along with it. BALLE has a strong preference to focus on on-the-ground proven concrete solutions to the challenges that local communities face, but it is also essential that we stay attuned to the overarching ideas, trends, and conceptual revolutions that are underpinning our movement into this new economic era. To that end we have assembled some of the world’s leading big picture thinkers in the new economic sphere to bring their insight into the progress we’ve made, the realities of the present moment, and our collective need to forge a vision for the future.