Local Business & Finance

Japan

In 1965, a group of 200 Tokyo women – tired of getting low-quality milk at unaffordable prices from the large milk companies that dominated the dairy market – banded together to create a collective purchasing club. From this humble beginning, the Seikatsu Club has grown into a federation of 32 cooperatives with nearly 350,000 members (over 90% of them women). Despite its size, the Seikatsu Club has maintained a decentralized structure to facilitate human-scale, face-to-face interaction between members and producers. To learn more, visit the Seikatsu website, or read AsiaDHRRA’s profile of their work.

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https://www.seikatsuclub.coop/en/about.html

UK

Totally Locally helps towns around the world support their local businesses and create thriving local economies by offering a simple toolkit, full of fun promotional materials, all designed to spread the message: shopping local really does make a difference. Read more about Totally Locally in this Medium article.

https://totallylocally.org

Mexico

Tosepan is a network of cooperatives with 35,000 members in Puebla, Mexico, dedicated to constructing a holistic, sustainable, locally- and democratically-controlled economy rooted in the indigenous culture and knowledge of the Sierra Norte. Tosepan is comprised of three civil associations and eight cooperatives, which together cover basic needs including organic ecological farming, natural building, local healthcare, decentralized renewable energy, and local finance. They also actively oppose globalization, and have successfully resisted corporate development projects including a planned Walmart. Read more about Tosepan in our article on Medium.

http://www.tosepan.com/

USA

Since 1987, the Vermont Community Loan Fund has lent more than $110 million to small enterprises, helping create 6,100 jobs. The loan fund offers interest-bearing savings and Certificate of Deposit (CD) accounts to individuals and organizations, who can specify that their money go towards either the Food, Farms and Forest Fund, supporting local food businesses, or the Next Generation Fund, helping childcare programs. To learn more about the program, visit investinvermont.org.

http://investinvermont.org/