Community Wealth Enterprise Established
Updated 01/31/12
The '1 of 52' Hunger Network is utilizing its community business connections to further the cause of ending hunger while benefiting the local economy by helping to create a marketing campaign in partnership with area businesses and groups.
The campaign showcases local businesses and is intended to create community wealth to address the root cause of hunger: poverty. It connects the cause of hunger directly to the local economy, local products and services - all tied to socially awareness and actions. (Although this program is specific to Rhode Island, it may apply to other markets.)
We've established a working model program that certainly qualifies as a true Community Wealth Enterprise as defined by Share Our Strength (SOS) founder Bill Shore in his book: Revolution of the Heart on Page 83: "A Community Wealth Enterprise creates wealth by providing a product or service of value, by selling something that people want to buy for reasons independent of their charitable intentions. ...the wealth it generates is returned to the community."
This CWE is facilitated by the business community itself. The logistics of the campaign have been set up as a 'virtual' consortium of businesses tied together by one contact point - a merchandise and consumer inncentive coordinator. (In this case, I (Steve Maciel) am serving as a the volunteer from the End Hunger Foundation as merchandise coordinator.) The marketing campaign operates with cooperation of area chambers of commerce and businesses associations.
The marketing campaign centers on "Shop & Dine Locally" Gift Bags that are presented to new area residents and used as a fundraiser. The intent is to create community wealth by driving sales to participating sponsor businesses with a focus locally grown and made products where revenue goes directy to the "bottom line" of the community. (The businesses who benefit in turn consistently support local charitable efforts.)
By helping these small businesses prosper this CWE helps create sustainable community wealth which helps build community and alleviate hunger & poverty in the long term by increased revenue, employment / job security and taxes paid into the system.
Please see this article published in Providence Business News that gives an overview of where we are going with the concept. Where the article states: "There is already a working model program initiated within the South County business community" it is referring to this CWE.
http://www.pbn.com/detail/46660.html?sub_id=46660&print=1
(If link doesn't appear, copy & paste into browser.)
Your comments are welcome at endhunger@cox.net.
This is an open letter we are now distibuting:
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05/20/2011
RE: Alleviating Hunger by Improving the Economy
01/30/2012
An Open Letter to the Rhode Island Business Community:
The state of Rhode Island is uniquely positioned to increase revenue virtually instantly - while helping to alleviate the root cause of hunger; poverty - by further capitalizing on one of our state's rapid-growth industries: Tourism and its related sectors of hospitality, retail, arts and entertainment.
While we work to foster other industries crucial to our state, Tourism and its related sectors have the existing infrastructure that can, with appropriately motivated consumers, help rebuild our economy quickly. This industry is also uniquely positioned to rapidly train and provide growth opportunities to innumerable entry-level workers, while offering endless avenues for education and career advancement to help release those in the grip of hunger and poverty.
The End Hunger Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, suggests we enhance our state's current tourism positioning by enriching existing value-added packaging offered by Tourism Councils, Chambers of Commerce, and Business Associations. Driving increased sales to our state's accommodations, retailers, restaurants, venues and attractions will result in greater community wealth, more jobs, new positions created, additional tax revenue - and most importantly, more of our state's residents will become full participants in stimulating our local economy.
To extend these principles, we suggests implementing this two part agenda:
1) Unite behind existing "Shop & Dine Locally" efforts in a coordinated merchandising and marketing campaign promoting value-added packages to motivate consumers to shop and dine locally, with a special emphasis on local products, and a micro-focus on "RI Made & Grown" producers. Rally consumers to minimally shift their existing purchasing power 10% to local merchants. (A recent study in an area of Michigan with a similar population to RI reports that just a 10% shift in consumer behavior to shop and dine locally would create nearly $140 million in new economic activity, add over 1,600 new jobs, and provide over $50 million in new wages. http://ruralcommunitybuilding.fb.org)
2) Rally RI's business community to take the infrastructure of this ramped-up "Shop & Dine Locally" packaging and add it to the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation's sustainable tourism efforts. Build year-round occupancy rates by developing irresistible value-added "Stay, Shop & Dine" accommodation packages targeting quality leisure travelers. Warmly invite local, regional, national and international travelers to allow America's First Resort to host their vacation. Roll out a Red Carpet Welcome driving consumer traffic to Main Street RI with incentives to shop our stores, dine in our restaurants, stay with us longer to savor our local flavor. (According to a November 2010 Global Insight RI Tourism report, every 163 new visitors generates one new RI job position.)
Our intent is to build a private-sector consortium with the purpose of advancing this agenda to build community wealth to directly benefit our businesses and residents. We welcome your input, resources and participation. Contact Steve Maciel at 401-368-1325 or endhunger@cox.net to learn more.
Let's capitalize on the collective power of Rhode Island's business community to grow our economy from the ground up, help alleviate hunger, and return food pantries to their original purpose: emergencies, not a way of life.
Sincerely, Stephen M. Maciel
President, End Hunger Foundation, Inc.
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