Success Stories
How does procurement in Arizona help a local economy in Michigan? By not re-inventing the wheel, our Localists are spreading their innovative solutions around the nation, helping other entrepreneurs and change-makers advance directly to impact without trial and error. By sharing our ideas and protocols with each other, we can move faster, scale our impact and transform communities in the blink of an eye.
Success always starts with an idea. In this community we’re continually challenging ourselves to imagine a better way. From marketing to manufacturing to management, together we’ve challenged ourselves to imagine a better way and to change the way we work – and we share real world examples of how we’ve made changes in our own businesses and communities.
Here are some examples of successes that have happened through this community:
Economic Justice Crusaders Connect at BALLE Conference
Anyone who attended the 2012 Conference would be forgiven for not realizing that prior to that event, Maggie Anderson and Rha Goddess had never met. Maggie (director of The Empowerment... [Read More]
Local First Arizona Blazes Trails
Finding successful business models and programs and then sharing those stories to its national audience is one way BALLE helps keep everyone ‘in the know’ as new emerging trends and... [Read More]
Growing Deep vs. Growing Wide
Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, co-founders of the Zingermans Community of Businesses, are quintessential Localists (see our case study). When their delicatessen became a huge hit in the city... [Read More]
Bringing it Home
The strength and dynamism of the Localist movement means that all kinds of problems are being faced head-on with creative business solutions developed in local places everywhere. One of BALLE... [Read More]
Lead, Follow, or Get out of the Way
The BALLE community is not waiting around for other people to solve problems. The entrepreneurs, leaders, and funders that make up our networks and membership are leveraging the power of... [Read More]
BALLE and Maggie Anderson Join Forces to Pursue Prosperity for All
As the organization that coined the phrase ‘Local First’ – and with it the awareness that a strong local economy is, and always has been, an essential element of a healthy... [Read More]
Kimber Lanning and the Many Paths to Localism
As a record store owner, local business network founder, economic policy advocate, and all-around community champion, Kimber Lanning has found many ways to cultivate Localism in her home state of... [Read More]
Amy Kedron: Agent of Change
By Lauren Newkirk Maynard Amy Kedron will be the first to tell you: No matter where she lives, she will always be from Buffalo. After graduating from UB in 1998, Kedron left her hometown to earn two... [Read More]
