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Report: Fewer Small Businesses are Receiving Federal Relief Loans in States Dominated by Big Banks

Report: Fewer Small Businesses are Receiving Federal Relief Loans in States Dominated by Big Banks

Stacy Mitchell

April 29, 2020

A significantly larger number of federal relief loans are reaching small businesses in states where small, local banks comprise a greater share of the market, compared to states where big banks are more dominant, an ILSR analysis has found.  READ MORE


Stacy Mitchell is Profiled in the New York Times

Stacy Mitchell is Profiled in the New York Times

Jess Del Fiacco

April 20, 2020

ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell was profiled in the New York Times.  READ MORE


Recent

How Cities and States Are Stepping up to Help Small Businesses in Crisis (Episode 101)

How Cities and States Are Stepping up to Help Small Businesses in Crisis (Episode 101)

Jess Del Fiacco

May 28, 2020

Host Jess Del Fiacco talks with Kennedy Smith, Senior Researcher with ILSR's Independent Business initiative, about efforts at the state and local level to support small businesses affected by the pandemic.  READ MORE


Our Big List of Covid-19 Assistance Programs

Our Big List of Covid-19 Assistance Programs

Kennedy Smith

May 26, 2020

We are building an ongoing list of grant and loan programs that can help small, locally owned businesses weather the COVID-19 pandemic.  READ MORE


ILSR Submits Recommendations for Antitrust Reform to Congressional Committee

ILSR Submits Recommendations for Antitrust Reform to Congressional Committee

Zach Freed

May 11, 2020

Stacy Mitchell provides the House Judiciary Committee with recommendations for future antitrust legislation.  READ MORE


In Wired: Can it. Amazon is Not Your Typical Grocery Store

In Wired: Can it. Amazon is Not Your Typical Grocery Store

Susan Holmberg

May 5, 2020

ILSR Legal Fellow Shaoul Sussman and co-author Hal Singer discredit the idea that all businesses behave like Amazon.  READ MORE


In the American Prospect: Monopolies in Meat

In the American Prospect: Monopolies in Meat

Ron Knox

May 4, 2020

ILSR Senior Researcher Ron Knox explains how a regulatory system that is supposed to protect the food supply has instead led to giant slaughterhouses rampant with Covid-19.   READ MORE


Stacy Mitchell Explains How Amazon’s Dominance is More Visible During a Pandemic

Stacy Mitchell Explains How Amazon's Dominance is More Visible During a Pandemic

Zach Freed

May 1, 2020

Nilay Patel, host of the Vergecast, interviewed Co-Director Stacy Mitchell on the pandemic's disruptions to our supply chains, the importance of competition, and the growing movement to regulate Amazon.  READ MORE


Small Businesses Wait for Help While Amazon Profits From Pandemic (Episode 99)

Small Businesses Wait for Help While Amazon Profits From Pandemic (Episode 99)

Jess Del Fiacco

April 30, 2020

Chris, John, Stacy, and Jess discuss the bumpy rollout of federal relief funding for America's small businesses, which are facing an unprecedented crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic.  READ MORE


ILSR & Allies Urge Congress to Act on Small Business Crisis

ILSR & Allies Urge Congress to Act on Small Business Crisis

Zach Freed

April 14, 2020

Hundreds of thousands of small businesses shuttered by COVID-19 are at risk of closing for good in the coming weeks. To protect Main Street jobs, workers, and businesses while they hibernate and adapt to save lives during the pandemic, the  READ MORE


Share our Infographic on How To Help Local Businesses Weather Covid-19

Share our Infographic on How To Help Local Businesses Weather Covid-19

Kennedy Smith

April 13, 2020

Print this and post it around town, and share it on social media. We can all do our part to help support small businesses weather the Covid-19 pandemic.  READ MORE


In the Washington Post: We’re Short on Hospital Beds Because of Hospital Consolidation

In the Washington Post: We're Short on Hospital Beds Because of Hospital Consolidation

Ron Knox

April 8, 2020

In the Washington Post, Senior Researcher Ron Knox and Roosevelt Institute co-author Andrea Flynn explain how monopoly power is impacting Americans' access to health care, particular hospitals' ability to fight the COVID-19 crisis.  READ MORE


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In-Depth

Watch Frontline Documentary on Amazon’s Reign Over Us — Featuring ILSR’s Research

Watch Frontline Documentary on Amazon's Reign Over Us — Featuring ILSR's Research

Susan Holmberg

February 4, 2020

FRONTLINE has drawn on ILSR’s research and interviews with co-director Stacy Mitchell to create a powerful documentary on the reign of Amazon.  READ MORE


Survey: Independent Businesses See Major Threats in Amazon, Corporate Concentration

Survey: Independent Businesses See Major Threats in Amazon, Corporate Concentration

ILSR

August 6, 2019

ILSR's Independent Business Survey offers insight and guidance to elected officials looking to build a more equitable, entrepreneurial, competitive, and dynamic economy.  READ MORE


Report: Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery Markets

Report: Walmart’s Monopolization of Local Grocery Markets

Stacy Mitchell

June 26, 2019

In 43 metropolitan areas and 160 smaller markets, Walmart controls 50 percent or more of the local grocery market. No other corporation in history has ever amassed this degree of control over the U.S. food system. Our findings provide a stark illustration of the failings of contemporary antitrust policy.  READ MORE


Report: Dollar Stores Are Targeting Struggling Urban Neighborhoods and Small Towns. One Community Is Showing How to Fight Back.

Report: Dollar Stores Are Targeting Struggling Urban Neighborhoods and Small Towns. One Community Is Showing How to Fight Back.

Marie Donahue

December 6, 2018

Although dollar stores sometimes fill a need in places that lack basic retail services, there’s growing evidence that these stores are not merely a byproduct of economic distress. They’re a cause of it. In small towns and urban neighborhoods alike, dollar stores are leading full-service grocery stores to close. And their strategy of saturating communities with multiple outlets is making it impossible for new grocers and other local businesses to take root and grow.  READ MORE


Interview: In The Sun, Stacy Mitchell Discusses Amazon and the Future of Local Economies

Interview: In The Sun, Stacy Mitchell Discusses Amazon and the Future of Local Economies

Stacy Mitchell

October 25, 2018

This month, The Sun magazine features ILSR Co-Director Stacy Mitchell in an extended Q&A about the consequences of Amazon’s tightening grip and what it will take to revive America’s left-behind cities and towns.  READ MORE


Report: Amazon’s Next Frontier: Your City’s Purchasing

Report: Amazon’s Next Frontier: Your City’s Purchasing

Stacy Mitchell

July 10, 2018

Amazon recently secured a national contract that opens the way for billions of dollars in local government spending to shift to the company, but there's been virtually no reporting on the deal. In this new report, we examine the contract and Amazon's push to capture local government spending, and find concerns — including that the contract leaves local governments at risk of being ripped off, and sets Amazon up to expand its monopoly power. We conclude by offering examples of local governments that are choosing to reject Amazon's deal.  READ MORE


Featured Audio and Video

Independent Pharmacies are on the Front Lines of COVID-19 Care (Episode 97)

Independent Pharmacies are on the Front Lines of COVID-19 Care (Episode 97)

Jess Del Fiacco

April 9, 2020

Host Zach Freed speaks with Jim Hrncir, owner of Las Colinas Pharmacy in Irving, Texas. Zach and JimREAD MORE


The Pandemic is Pushing Main Street Toward Collapse (Episode 95)

The Pandemic is Pushing Main Street Toward Collapse (Episode 95)

Jess Del Fiacco

March 25, 2020

Stacy Mitchell speaks with Sandy Grodin, a small business owner, about the catastrophic impact of thREAD MORE


Coronavirus Shows How Inequity Makes Us Vulnerable (Episode 94)

Coronavirus Shows How Inequity Makes Us Vulnerable (Episode 94)

Jess Del Fiacco

March 18, 2020

On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco talks with Stacy Mitchell and ChristopREAD MORE


Democratizing Antitrust with Harry First (Episode 91)

Democratizing Antitrust with Harry First (Episode 91)

Zach Freed

February 6, 2020

Host Stacy Mitchell talks with Harry First about how competition policy has become captured by technREAD MORE


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