When Walmart’s top executives organized a live broadcast event to present what they claimed was progress in greening the company’s operations, ILSR joined with leaders of OUR Walmart and Environmental Action to produce a live webcast response attended by hundreds of environmental activists. Click through to watch our 45-minute event.… Read More
A survey of 2,602 independent business owners across the U.S. has found that the Buy Local message is boosting customer traffic and improving the outlook on Main Street. But entrepreneurs also say policymakers need to do more to create a level playing field and ensure that small local businesses have an equal opportunity to compete.… Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 6, 2014) — A survey of 2,602 independent business owners across the U.S. has found that the Buy Local message is boosting customer traffic and improving the outlook on Main Street. But entrepreneurs also say policymakers need to do more to create a level playing field and ensure that small local businesses have an equal opportunity to compete.
The survey was conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) in partnership with the Advocates for Independent Business (AIB) coalition.… Read More
ILSR’s Independent Business Initiative produces a wealth of research, articles, model policies, and how-to resources. Here are a few highlights: The Hometown Advantage Bulletin Sign up for our monthly newsletter to get the latest research, analysis, and how-to resources. Key Studies on Big-Box Retail & Independent Business We have compiled the best research on how big … Read More
Today, ILSR issued a report on Walmart’s rapidly expanding climate pollution and joined with leading environmental organizations in calling for change. The new report, Walmart’s Assault on the Climate: The Truth Behind One of the Biggest Climate Polluters and Slickest Greenwashers in America, finds: Nearly a decade after launching its sustainability campaign, Walmart’s greenhouse gas emissions … Read More
Environmental Defense Fund, a big cheerleader for Walmart’s sustainability efforts, gets about an eighth of its budget from the Walton family, the same folks who control Walmart.… Read More
In an exciting new development for the local economy movement, seven independent business organizations have come together to launch the Advocates for Independent Business (AIB), a new coalition dedicated to ensuring that locally owned, independent businesses succeed and thrive. ILSR helped the coalition get off the ground and is coordinating its work. We think building a national coalition will give independent businesses a stronger voice on critical public policy issues.… Read More
Presentation given by Stacy Mitchell at the Alliance of Independent Media Stores conference in Atlanta on September 12, 2013.… Read More
In this 30-minute interview on “This Is Hell!”, recently voted Chicago’s best talk radio show, ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell talks about how Walmart is undermining the American economy and why being more engaged citizens, rather than better consumers, is the best way to counter corporate power. … Read More
