Local First Ithaca Extends its Reach 
Jan Rhodes Norman at her Silk Oak studio/store in downtown Ithaca. She is the cofounder of Local First Ithaca.
Jan Rhodes Norman, co-founder of Local First Ithaca, wants to make something very clear. “Local First Ithaca is not just about retail business. Some people are under the misconception that it is. In fact, retail is a very small part of it because a local living economy is made up of all the building blocks that you need to have a sustainable community.” the local businesswoman says.
She refers to the many businesses in our area that are not shops (such her own studio/store, Silk Oak) and restaurants, but independent media and, particularly, local community capital.
“Local community capital is made up of the smaller regional banks around the area, such as Alternatives Federal Credit Union, where my co-founder Leslie Ackerman runs the Business Cents program, as well as Cornell Federal Credit Union,” Rhodes Norman says.
“Then you have independent media, health and education organizations, public policy and local non-profits, all of these entities are part of Local First, so it’s a bigger conversation about how to create a local economy where the money stays in the community longer before it leaks out,” she adds.
Local First Ithaca is an affiliate of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economy (BALLE), a network of more than 80 communities throughout the U.S. and Canada. “They are advocates for communities that work and for public policies that level the playing field,” says Rhodes Norman.
This way a small independent business in our area can have just as much opportunity as a corporately owned one that’s being brought in with tax abatements or incentives.
“We’ve been talking to people at the city and county levels of government and BALLE certainly works with theses people on a national level as well,” she says. “In fact, there’s a conference coming up in Charleston, South Carolina, that Leslie, some of AFCU’s board of directors and others from our community will be attending. That’s great, because this conference gets the conversation more broadly distributed throughout the community, particularly to areas that need to be part of this conversation and to understand it more fully.”
The conference has some very inspiring guests, according to Rhodes Norman. “Often there are individuals who come from a different perspective, whether it pertains to sustainability or social justice, and senators or congress people from the city in which the conference is being held. We did this in Boston two years ago and last year in Denver. What’s great is that the people who have attended always return home with a lot of excitement and good ideas,” she says.
Local First Ithaca is currently holding a drive to recruit more members, in part because of the misconception that the organization caters mostly to the retail community.
“Non-profits and businesses of all kinds are joining,” says Rhodes Norman. “This year’s drive is primarily about educating the public and engaging the community. And it’s not about themes such as ‘Shop Locally this Holiday Season’ because there are plenty of businesses out there where the holiday season doesn’t impact them at all and they will be part of a yearlong bunch of activities that will hopefully have some real impact.
“Local First and BALLE were created in 2001 and I look at communities that have been involved with the organization and it has had a huge impact as a driver for positive change in their community,” she says. She cites the mentoring of new business and helping established ones becoming more “green” in their day to day operations as two examples.
In addition, Rhodes Norman says, “I see the organization making a difference in the business community and getting people who sit on our local board to see the value of these businesses, to help them move in the right direction such as offering incentives to privately owned businesses moving into our area as well as ones that are already here.”
Rhodes Norman wants to see a stronger local base with less businesses closing and more start-ups, or what she referred to as “business incubation.” “It’s a concept that has really grown across the country in terms of developing small businesses, like minority areas where we want to provide not only the incentive but the support to grow these businesses, such as certain facilities that may provide the cost of getting an accountant to set your books up or getting a lawyer to help you put your papers in order, maybe even getting you a tech savvy person to help with business cards or letterheads,” she says.
She cites Local First Ithaca’s partnership with Alternatives as an established who in fact provides some of the previously mentioned services as part of their business incubation program.
And while all of this is serious business, she points out, “It’s also intended to be an enjoyable experience. We have a lot to be grateful for, and if we want to keep this incredible community going, we need to give it some thought and that’s a big reason Local First is here.”
For information, contact localfirstithaca@gmail.com or silkoak@silkoak.com.
