I have created the attached plan of action to relocalize major functions of our local communities. I am seeking review and comment to improve this plan with the idea of wide spread distribution. I am even considering funding sources to test its' value in achieving stated objectives. All help will be appreciated.

COMMUNITY LOCALIZATION

A Plan For Personal, Family and Neighborhood, Security and Liberty
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Promoting Democracy by Growing the Middle Class and Fostering Local Control

This plan for COMMUNITY LOCALIZATION will seek to avoid the concentration of wealth, influence and power in the hands of a family, an industry or small number of people. “One Horse Communities” and/or multi-national corporate fascism, are contrary to the purposes of this plan. Multifaceted and vibrant communities, with a competitive environment, is the goal. Phrases, which further describe this condition, are, broad based, decentralized, producer decision-makers and distributive. A nation made up of self-reliant local communities is a natural solution to excessive higher levels of government and/or corporate dominance. These communities do this by creating a broad based economic and social structures, which in turn reduce or eliminate poverty, keep people healthy, reduce violence and is more likely to achieve a clean and healthy environment.

This effort can be helped by governments developing two major policy initiatives focused on revitalization: 1) Repopulating Rural America and 2) Re-Energizing Urban Centers. Some of the programs and tool from these legislative actions should be those set forth in the rest of this document. However, many others will be necessary for success. This whole effort will be an antidote to globalization and the “one world government” notion promoted by the few powerful elite.

Globalization will be supported as it benefits local communities worldwide. Examples are local-to
-local buying/selling of products and services and working with international NGOs to achieve a quality environment, and social and economic justice.

Organizing For Success

The key organizational component of this plan is a local nonprofit mother corporation. It will be the catalysis and nurturing center for all other entities and programs that will be established. The vehicles to accomplish this will be two related operating units. One is a for-profit holding company, which in turn will set up other appropriate for-profit companies. The second is a non-profit corporation that will identify, establish and over-see a series of not-for-profit units corresponding to the for profits. These non-profits will carry out activities and programs that are needed to achieve the stated objectives with in the scope of interest.

The holding corporation will over-see a series of for-profit companies. The first being a
community based financial institution/bank. Other companies will address local needs/markets as follows: energy, a community market place, housing, organic food production, transportation, community based education, communication, commercial real estate development, wellness, specialized recreation, package delivery-ebay auction drop, business consulting (Value Innovation & Franchise Modeling & Worker Ownership/Control), locally focused risk pooling, and web-internet marketing.

The working non-profit corporations will address democracy, local control, security and liberty issues in functional areas such as, community based financial systems, organic food production, energy independents, housing/shelter, diverse business development/ownership, risk reduction and sharing, transportation/delivery, wellness, community education, community communication, environmental quality, locally focused marketing systems, community development/amenities and quality of life,
Each for-profit company will have a corresponding non-profit that will assist it in achieving programmatic and financial success. Two non-profits will focus on two for-profits each.
The non-profits can and should work on topics with in their area of concern, beyond those related to the for-profit companies they support.

For Profits Non Profits
Holding company ……………………..............Non-profit organizing corp.
1. Local Financial Institution.…………...Locally focused money/exchange systems
2. Local Energy Projects.……………........Sustainable energy independence
3. Localizing Marketing Services ……...Locally beneficial marketing
4. Sustainable Organic Growers ………....Small organic food production
5. Community Market Place……………........Selling and showcaseing local wares
6. Wellness Center ……………………...........Health and quality lifestyle
7. Business Consultant Services ………...Diverse business development and ownership
8. Creative Home Builders …………….......Local housing resources
9. Community Transport ……………….........Maximizing mobility
10. Community Risk Sharing ………….......Risk reduction and sharing
11. Commercial Development……….…......Community development/amenities
12. Unique Recreation ………………….........Community development/amenities
13. Hometown Delivery ……………….........Community communications
14. Communications Local ……………........Community communications
15. Community-Life Education ………......Community based education

A specialized non-profit will be needed to promote/assist in “upward mobility” for those not benefiting from the normal economic activity. It will seek to bring into focus existing support systems in order to make each person/family more effective and actually reduce want and dependency.

Another major objective is to have a “strong broad based civil society”. A society where there is a high level of community organization focused on meeting a host of individual, family and group needs. Some of these structures will automatically arise. But, others will need encouragement and nurturing. Among these are neighborhood associations and land trusts, cultural groups and civic responsibility groups. A non-profit will be needed to address this area.

Structuring The Local Entities

The basic organizational and control unit is a non-profit with a nine (9) member board. It will guide both the for-profits and the non-profits. This non-profit mother corp will come about as a small group of people decides to take on the task/mission of community localization. It will be self-selecting board. This group initially will control and facilitate the over-all process. It will set up the non-profit organizing corp. and the for-profit holding corporation and establish the criteria for selection of all board members and will appoint five of the nine members of these two organizations.

The holding corp and the organizing non-profit will appoint five board members to each of the subsequent corps in their respective areas, subject to the consent of the mother corporation, in all cases.

The mother corp will have these functions:
- Appoint five of the nine board members to the two corps noted above
- Train/instruct these two corps as to their purposes and responsibilities
- Evaluate needs of local community and serve as catalyst for new for profits and non-profit entities and programs
- Consent to board appointments for all corps
- Concur with bylaws for all corps.

Additional organizing characteristics include:
- Two members of the board for any corporation will be representative of the employees and another two of the community at large.
- The community at large reps will eventually be drawn from members of the Association for Community Localization. This will be an independent dues paying membership non-profit.

Ownership, Financing and Profits

Ownership of and distribution of profits of, for profits will be: 30% board members and employees, 30% preferred stock investors and 40% the holding corporation. Board members and employees of the corresponding non-profit will be included as owners for given for profit company.

Board members and employees of the mother and organizing non profits, and holding corporation will get a payment from profits equal to the average profit distributed to all other board members and employees.

A formula will need to be set up to determine what portion of income of the holding company will be used for reinvestments and what will be remitted to the mother non profit to support its operation and the other non profits.

The mother non-profit will take the lead in obtaining grants and other funds for all non-profits.
The holding company will lead out in getting financing for all for-profits.

Plan of Action

The first profit making companies to be implemented, will be those dealing with banking, energy, community and web marketing and organic growing. Determining the actual sequence, will be one of the first task of the holding company. This will be done in cooperation with the non-profit organizing corp.
The grand vision embraces an environment that has many independent for-profit businesses, which grow out of the “Community Localizing” culture. The independent for-profits will have the model/example of the business units of the holding company, to see what can be done with some creative thinking. Examples of these follow.

1. Local Financial Institution.
The South Shore Bank of Chicago and similar banks are to be studied as models for our local financial institution.
The financial unit has several goals:
- Create “local money” to help protect the local community against the “wields” of the dollar and to assure a medium of exchange that will stabilize the local economy and promote local economic activity. This money could take the form of a credit card, actual script and/or a barter system.
- Design financial products and investment vehicles that exclusively serve the needs of the local people and keep their funds in their community. Set up micro-mini loan programs
- Secure and get maximum return on excess funds by investing overseas through stable old-line banks.
- Unhook as much as possible from the world economy and shaky US financial house of cards.
- Establish and operate a “local stock exchange”.
- Organize/offer local mutual funds

2. Local Energy Project
Drawing on the expertise and experience of those working with “microgrids and micro electric generation; design a distributive electric generation plan for the Weirton-Steubenville metro region.
Conduct an analysis to determine the feasibility of investing in biodiesel fuel production facility. This could tie in to generating electricity using a biodiesel engine.

3. Localizing Marketing Services
This will be a marketing consulting and market research company, servicing both non- and for profits of this whole program, along with the general business community. It will be adept at opening local markets to local producers. In addition it will have an expertise in the use of the internet as a tool to promote the local economy and community localization.

4. Sustainable Organic Growers
Our basic foods should be grown and processed with in 100 miles of our kitchen table. These foods should be grown with out any off farm inputs and with out any chemicals or poisons.
The first business would focus on supplying those organic products and services need by growers. An example is an arrangement with a worm grower to retail his worms. Another is to buy SEA-90 minerals by the truck loads/tons and retail by the bag or pound. Another is to rent beehives to farmers to increase the yield of crops. Other products include soil-reconditioning items along with SEA-90.

5. Community Market Place
This business would have four purposes, one to be the local farmers market, second, to be the local excess fresh food and produce store, third a foods processing center including a commercial kitchen and fourth, a local products and services expo mart.

6. Wellness Center
Life style training, nutrition and physical fitness along with a health food restaurant and store, will be the focus of this company.

7. Business Consultant Services
Diverse business financing, development and ownership, will be among the goals of this business.
Value innovation and franchise modeling concepts will be adapted to serve community localization objectives.

8. Creative Home Builders
Creative design, maximizing use of local and recycled materials and energy efficiency and sustainable, are among the concepts that this company will pursue. The use of novel building techniques will be explored to determine which are appropriate for a given locale. Housing types to serve all segments of the community will be planned into each project. Cohousing and eco-village principals will be applied where ever feasible.

9. Community Transport
One part of this venture is to assist the under served-elderly and low income families. It should develop a mobility system/network that would encourage physical interaction among all segments of the population. It could include a package delivery element to make it more profitable. This would be in addition to the services of the home delivery company set forth below.

10. Community Risk Sharing
This company will design creative ways/products for local persons and businesses to share financial risk. It will provide maximum security at minimum cost.

11. Commercial Development
This company will focus on key profitable commercial projects which will serve as catylist for further development and improvements
12. Unique Recreation
Eco based recreation and tourism including farm based vacations provide the base of this enterprise.
In addition unique natural resources would be used to create special recreation attractions and activities.

13. Hometown Delivery
Almost every day I see several kinds of delivery trucks go through my neighborhood. They are owned by large corporations. Ah! A local business opportunity. Have a locally owned delivery service consolidate these packages and make one or two daily deliveries. This would save much money for all concerned. It seems that each company now coming to the ‘hood would gladly pay a local company to do the job for them at a lower cost.

With the above contractual base, the local company will be in a position to provide other local deliver services unique to the local community.

14. Communications Local
This function may require more than one company. One would be a radio station and another a TV station; both focused on really serving the locale and the community localization process. Still another would deal with universal wireless internet access including cyber cafes. A daily news paper that serves the community localization process is yet another.

15. Community-Life Education
Computer based interactive courses will form the core of this company. The video professor is one example to follow. Another format is learning through community involvement. A mentor for hire is another possibility. Subjects will be selected for their value in promoting community localization and personal growth/responsibility.