Think globally, buy locally

Just before 7 a.m. Friday, curious business owners warmed to the smell of coffee in the fellowship hall of the First United Methodist Church in downtown Reno. A woman from Reno-based Crystal Springs Water Co. distributed water bottles to more than a dozen tables.

The coffee wasn’t quite ready.

“I plugged it in at 6:30,” explained Anthony DeMasi, proprietor and chef at Reno’s Dandelion Deli to an eager woman with an empty coffee cup. “But it’s a big pot.”

DeMasi’s brew was drinkable by the time the meeting of the Truckee Meadows Conscious Business & Community Network got started. About 65 business owners, along with a few nonprofit and spiritual leaders, gathered to talk about banding together to achieve some of the economic and political clout wielded by large government-subsidized corporations.

A diverse bunch gathered for this second organizational meeting of the new group. Some of the participants sported suits and ties, including one Reno attorney. Others wore khakis, jeans, T-shirts, working boots. There was Scott Beers of Brüka Theatre, Father Chuck Durante, Eric Baron of the Melting Pot World Emporium, John Mariotti of Universal Tae Kwon Do and Rebecca Willis of Steamboat Villa Hot Springs Spa.

Pastor John Auer of the First United Methodist Church spoke briefly on the value of community—an appropriate topic for those gathered, who represented a growing number of people interested in developing what they called “a sustainable community-based local economy.”

A circular chart with smiley faces was used to show how money spent at local businesses triply benefits a community, as the business spends its profits locally (smiley face), employs local workers (smiley face) and gives back to the community (smiley face). A contrasting chart showed how money spent at corporate chain stores drains the community of resources as money leaves the community to flow into the pockets of international stockholders. This chart had smiley faces, but most were outside the circle of community.

Despite the tone of these visuals, the Conscious Business Network founders don’t intend to position the group as anti-corporate. Instead, they see independents banding together as a positive act intended to change the way both network members and the community at large view their spending choices.

“What’s really exciting is how people can help each other,” says Richard Flyer, a medical clinic owner in Reno who helped start the group. “Our community is being overrun by chains, and we want to take care of it, make a stand for self-determination.”

The Reno business network models itself on similar groups in 30 U.S. cities, including Chicago, Boulder, Seattle and Austin, Texas. In the last two years, about 10,000 independent companies—with combined assets of about $30 billion—have joined forces. While that may be a mere drop in the bucket of the gross domestic product, it’s not bad—considering the movement is only 2 years old, Flyer said.

“It shows that this is a populist movement,” he said. “It involves Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, independents and apathetics—basically all people who see this imbalance of corporate versus community power. … It doesn’t matter what your view is on the war or on abortion. What matters is that you care about your communities.”

The underlying value is conscious consumption, Flyer said, and building the world you want to see instead of merely whining about the one you’re in.

It’s about the free market—and how it should really work.

“The free market would be a good idea,” Flyer said. “If Adam Smith, who wrote The Wealth of Nations, saw [today’s economic climate], he’d be turning over in his grave about corporate welfare.”

It’s a blow to free-market competition when governments—local or federal—give tax breaks and subsidies to large corporations. The United States spends far more on corporate welfare than it does on Aid to Dependent Families, Flyer said.

“McDonald’s gets $40 million a year to market McNuggets in China,” Flyer told group members. “The old paradigm is that to get big retailers to come to town you have to give them a tax break. How many of you have gotten a tax break?”

No hands went up.

“The idea is to use the free market to serve the human good and not the human greed,” Flyer said later. “The thing is, you have all these people talking about the free market as if it exists, but the tax breaks and subsidies end up undercutting competition. That’s anti-democratic. It goes against the foundation of our society.”

The economic and political nature of this kind of system perpetuates itself, as large companies wield significant clout with both the Democratic and Republican parties.

“Small businesses create most of the jobs in this country, yet our political power is very small,” Flyer said. “We’re not well-represented by our governments. We’re kind of on our own.”

So far, the month-old network includes about 50 area businesses, eight nonprofit groups and three religious leaders. The goal is to have 300 businesses and 30 nonprofits and churches on board by spring.

Those who’ve already signed on are excited about the possibility of achieving a bit more political and economic clout—and about the concept of keeping money right here in northern Nevada.

Rebecca Willis, administrator of Steamboat Springs Spa, said that she appreciated the group’s commitment to community.

“Supporting local businesses is especially important in an economy that’s totally brand-oriented,” she said. “You go into a mall, and you can’t tell if you’re in Seattle or Houston.”

Members will pay what Flyer calls “modest” dues and will help formulate a branding and marketing plan to get consumers on board. The network hopes to launch a Web site this spring that will include a directory of locally owned businesses in a consumer-friendly format.

Flyer said growing interest in independent business networks—in Reno and across the nation—is a sign that Americans are ready to look at alternative ways of doing business.

“It beats complaining and moaning about having to compete with large chains,” he said. “If we don’t like the way things are going in the world, we can do something about it. … We can vote with our dollars. How we spend our money has a significant impact on the world. We choose to direct our money in a way that builds a healthy, cooperative society.

“This isn’t just about an economic initiative; it’s about developing a society that’s based on love and not on fear."