March 16, 2009

NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SHOLO WELCOMES LEADING INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ADVOCATE TO SOUTH BEND
Presentation Will Demonstrate  Tools to Support Local Entrepreneurs

CONTACT:
Joya Helmuth, Spark Fine Stationery, 276-1523, joya@sparksite.net
Rebecca Maalouf, Camellia, 243-1730, maaloufr@aol.com
Mark McDonnell, LaSalle Grill, 288-1155, mark@lasallegrill.com
Jeff Milchen, American Independent Business Alliance,  406-582-1255, Jeff@AMIBA.net

ShoLo is an organization formed by Joya Helmuth and Rebecca Maalouf in October 2008 to promote shopping, dining, and giving locally. The initial goal was two-fold: create customer awareness of the benefits and power of their choice through spending their dollars at local businesses, and identify those businesses as being local through membership in ShoLo. Currently, the group has over sixty members in St. Joseph County.

Due to expanding interest in our community (and nationwide) about the benefits that local business brings, ShoLo has ramped up efforts to provide more support to its members by becoming affiiliated with the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). To that end, ShoLo is bringing an AMIBA representative to our area.

Jeff Milchen, co-founder of AMIBA and a leading advocate for community-based businesses, will speak at 8:30a.m., Monday, March 30, 2009, at the Wiekamp Auditorium in the Northern Indiana Center for History. Milchen will offer a provocative presentation illustrating the economic and civic importance of sustaining a strong base of local, independently-owned business. He’ll provide numerous success stories of programs developed to support community-based businesses and keep them thriving in the face of competition from chains, online businesses, and others.

This presentation and training will advance the work that ShoLo has already accomplished in the short time since its formation, in October 2008. Co-founder Rebecca Maalouf says, “AMIBA is just what ShoLo needs at this critical time in our development. We’re excited to take our grassroots organization to the next level, and Jeff will do a great deal to educate us, as well as our community, on what we can do to harness and build upon the excitement already created by ShoLo thus far.”

Milchen co-founded and directed the first Independent Business Alliance (IBA) a decade ago in Boulder, Colorado.  He later co-founded the AMIBA to help other communities start successful IBAs of their own, create a network for collaboration among them, and begin building momentum for national shifts. His presentation will feature examples from some of the 60 affiliated groups like ShoLo now operating across the country in communities of all sizes.

“Independent businesses are struggling for survival across the country,” said Milchen. “But through collaborative efforts and the active involvement of citizens, communities have proven that harmful trends can be stopped and home-grown businesses still can prosper.”

IBAs use a three-pronged approach, including public information campaigns about the benefits of doing business locally; organizing collaborative purchasing, marketing and media campaigns among business members; and creating a visible public presence for independent business owners, whose interests too often are sacrificed in favor of more politically powerful entities.

“In the strongest local economies, most dollars are spent at locally-owned businesses, where they recirculate several times in the community. This multiplier effect is a critical, but often overlooked factor in creating community wealth,” said Joya Helmuth, co-founder. “Sustaining local ownership isn’t just important for sustaining our community character, it’s key to the long-term economic vitality of the Michiana area.”

The event is free and open to the public. To learn more or get involved in the ShoLo effort, call Rebecca Maalouf at 243-1730 or email info@sholo.org.

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