Running on Local to examine slow money concept in Beaufort
A national local-spending concept is gaining momentum locally.
Beaufort County-based group Local Money Talks is hosting two North Carolina authors and entrepreneurs, Lyle Estill and Carol Peppe Hewitt, on Dec. 14 to discuss Running on Local, a program that explains how to take spending locally to a new level.
It focuses specifically on financing local ventures.
"It's about getting our money out of far-away investments," Hewitt said.
The premise of slow money ventures such as Running on Local and Local Money Talks is to encourage community members to loan or invest in local businesses and industries. Slow Money, based in Boulder, Colo., is a national nonprofit whose goal is to connect investors to the places they live.
"Traditional lenders rarely lend to small businesses," Hewitt said.
As a result, she added, it's difficult for independent business owners to kickstart their enterprises.
In 2010, Estill and Hewitt established Slow Money NC, a program that facilitates microfinancial investments between lenders and local food entrepreneurs and businesses in the state.
"The toolbox for community financing is pretty much empty," Hewitt said, which is why Slow Money NC acts as the liaison between potential investors and independent entrepreneurs.
Hewitt and Estill target locally focused economies such as Beaufort's because, Hewitt says, the approach discussed in Running on Local can be replicated in many similar communities.
"We are advocates of local, resilient economies," Hewitt said. "We are feeding ourselves, financing ourselves and asking ourselves, 'How do we use resources in our community'?
"'What is it that we want in our community and how do we get it locally?'" she continued.
Beaufort County's Local Money Talks, a slow money-type concept, launched two years ago. It has a similar attitude toward keeping local dollars in the immediate community.
"We encourage people to divert a part of their portfolio to local investments," said Eric Somerville, a Local Money Talks member.
He said the investments people make in locally based industries, particularly food and efficiency, range in amount, but go straight to entrepreneurs aiming to launch or further their businesses that have a direct impact on the community.
"We try to make the bits and pieces come together," Somerville said.
Follow reporter Ashley Fahey at twitter.com/IPBG_Ashley.
Related content:
- Local Money Talks group encourages fresh perspective on investing, January 22, 2014
- Beaufort seafood business to sell shares in exchange for fresh fish, September 28, 2013
This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Running on Local to examine slow money concept in Beaufort."