Conference Scholarships for Building Local Economies

Entrepreneurship Fund Scholarships for the 2013 BALLE Conference in Buffalo  

   

Buffalo First! has created a fund to allow at least 15 entrepreneurs from the city of Buffalo to attend the 2013 BALLE Conference at no cost, to explore how local ownership, social enterprise, and collaboration between businesses and communities can improve economic justice and generate real, lasting prosperity for all people. Business Alliance for Local Economies (BALLE) and Buffalo First! seek scholarship applicants who will contribute to the diversity of the Localism movement and who might not otherwise be able to attend the BALLE conference. BALLE and Buffalo First! are equal opportunity organizations, and yet we recognize that economic opportunity is not currently equal. To this end, this fund targets applicants of economic need in Buffalo from communities currently underrepresented in the localism movement, including communities of color, low-income communities, and women-led businesses.

The Scholarship Includes:

Free registration to the BALLE main conference ($595 value), including conference programming and all meals and evening celebrations for Wednesday night, June 12 through Friday night, June 14, 2013.

Application Process Deadline:

Please download the application here. To be eligible, please complete and submit the application by 11:00 PM Eastern Time on Friday, April 19, 2013. Questions and completed applications should be emailed to scholarships@bealocalist.org. Please list "Buffalo Entrepreneurship Fund Application" in the subject line. We will let you know once your application has been received, and will inform you on or before May 3, 2013 whether you will be awarded a scholarship.

Buffalo First! Coupon Books & Office Needs

Get Discounts at Local Businesses with

Buffalo First! Coupon Books

Individuals, Schools and Businesses can now order books with the click of a button. Wholesale and Retail. If you are an individual buying books PLEASE consider buying from one of our great local businesses first (below). Your support helps them.

You can page through an electronic version of the coupon book here.


Buffalo First Director, Amy Kedron, was recently interviewed by Reuters:
Buffalo groups seek ways to help local businesses

Amy Kedron is also working to promote local businesses. She is the co-founder and director of Buffalo First, which sells books of coupons for local businesses.

Kedron is a former academic and has spent a lot of time thinking about what she does. A chart in her latest coupon book – she has the proofs with her when we meet – shows how for every $100 spent at a non locally-owned business, $57 leaves the community, whereas that figure is only $32 if you spend it at a locally-owned business.

“In a way I feel sorry for CEOs of big corporations,” she said. “They are legally obliged to maximize shareholder value and cannot do a lot for communities like this because they would be breaking the law.”

“We have forgotten in this country that there is so much more to capitalism than just the exchange of goods and services,” Kedron added. “It’s about community and local businesses are the best at building communities because their owners are in it to make a living, not a killing.”

Read the full report by Nick Carey at Reuters.com

We're Seeking Office Donations

We have recently moved into our new office space above Hyatt's All Things Creative! Currently our 'wish list' of necessary items contains a microwave and minifridge. If you or your business have these items, or other general office supply needs which you are not using, think of Buffalo First!
Don't forget, all donations are tax-deductable!
We are excited to continue establishing our new space, and we thank you for helping us reduce, reuse, and recycle!

Thank you for supporting Buffalo First's mission to create a more local, green and fair economy in WNY. We look forward to hearing from you!

Always Local,
The Buffalo First Team

Buffalo First! Building a Local, Green and Fair Economy

Buffalo First Inc., 910 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14202 E-mail