December 8, 2008 - The Wallace Center at Winrock International, in partnership with the Training and Development Corporation (TDC), announced today a selection of twelve locally-owned food enterprises, based abroad, to be profiled as part of Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace. The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is designed to highlight successful models of locally owned food enterprises from around the world. An additional ten U.S.-based enterprises were announced earlier this year. A list of 22 of the final 26 case studies can be found at www.wallacecenter.org/cfe.

"We’re excited to showcase these innovative enterprises as part of Community Food Enterprise," said John Fisk, Director of the Wallace Center at Winrock International. "These international enterprises are part of an important trend in development, one that emphasizes the power of social enterprises. They have the potential to combine market forces with sustainable social practices to address food access, food security and farmer livelihood in the developing world." — read more 

December 3, 2008 - The Commonwealth Club of California has posted on Fora.tv a high-resolution, streaming version of Michael Shuman's recent lecture, "Why Our New President Should Think Local."

The November 5 talk was hosted by the Club's Business and Leadership Forum and was emceed by forum chair Tom Waller.

Begins Shuman, "Ultimately the solution to America's economic crisis, I would argue, lies in solving our community crises. If I were Barak Obama, I would look at today's crises – the big crises he has spent the last two year on the campaign trail arguing about – and see in these crises the seeds of opportunity – opportunities that can only come through the expansion of local business." — read more 

November 14, 2008 - The organization Think Boise First has just posted a video on YouTube promoting the goals and benefits of buying local goods and services. Think Boise First is a membership network of local, community-minded individuals and businesses commited to strengthening Boise, Idaho by supporting the benefits of buying local first.

The video is available for viewing here. — read more 

October 10, 2008 - The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) reports that a number of the organization's thought leaders -- including Michael Shuman, David Korton, Leslie Christian and Judy Wicks -- have responded to the current financial crisis in the popular press.

These articles include: — read more 

• David Korten, "Main Street Before Wall Street," Yes! magazine, October 2008
• Leslie Christian, "Finance to Serve the Economy," Yes! magazine, October 2008

September 25, 2008 - More than 300 professional planners, state and county workers, and other interested audience members gathered last week on Maui, Hawai'i for two days of talks focusing on "E Ola Pono," or "Planning Island Style." The Maui County Planning Department hosted this Hawai'i Conference of Planning Officials (HCPO).

Keynotes speakers discussed a range of necessary shifts to planning frameworks and economic development approaches if our nation -- including our local island economies -- are going to successfully weather globalization, peak oil and climate change. — read more 

August 20, 2008 - The University of Kentucky Growing Local Economies Partnership announced today they will host a local planning forum on Wednesday, October 29. The Growing Local Economies Forum is billed as a "day of learning, dialogue and exploration about the promise of localized economic development in our Appalachian communities and the region." — read more 

August 1, 2008 - The Wallace Center at Winrock International, in partnership with the Training & Development Corporation (TDC), announced today their selection of ten U.S.-based local food enterprises to be profiled as part of Community Food Enterprise: Local Success in a Global Marketplace. The project is designed to highlight successful models of locally owned food enterprises from around the world. — read more 

April 8, 2008 - The British Columbia division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced earlier this week that Michael Shuman will be the featured guest speaker at their 45th annual convention.

The event, hosted at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Vancouver, B.C., is focused on "Building Sustainable Communities."

Other guest speakers include CUPE National president Paul Moist, CUPE National secretary-treasurer Claude Généreux, Federal New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton, B.C. NDP leader Carole James and BC Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair. — read more 

April 1, 2008 - How can we know if consumer behaviors like recycling are little more than feel-good tools for keeping the public from addressing a lack of environmental accountability at 'the top', asks the Cleveland Free Times reporter Jo Steigerwald?

Reach for a copy of The Small-Mart Revolution, she answers. — read more 

March 31, 2008 - According to Harrowsmith Country Life editor Tom Cruikshank, community economies based on local shops and industries were the norm only a few generations ago, and may again flourish.

Referencing The Small-Mart Revolution, the April 2008 issue of the Canadian magazine features Michael Shuman's localization ideas in the Editor's Note ("Greetings") and a special feature, "The 100-Mile Shopping Diet" by Marlene Bergsma. — read more