As Amazon Moves to Capture Local Government Spending, Here’s What You Can Do

Date: 10 Jul 2018 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

A recent contract opens the way for billions of dollars in local government spending to shift to Amazon. The good news is that, for concerned citizens and public officials, Amazon’s push into the public sector offers a way to take action at the local level and start a concrete conversation about Amazon’s power and what we should do about it. In this fact sheet, we outline three strategies to use to take action.… Read More

In Cities Around the Country, New Action on Commercial Affordability

Date: 27 Mar 2018 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

As independent businesses are grappling with the rising cost of rent in many U.S. cities, a new strategy is catching on: Policies that set-aside space for local businesses in new development. Here’s a look at three new programs that show how this tool can work — and offer examples of a step that cities can take to strengthen locally owned businesses.… Read More

Procurement Can Be a Powerful Tool for Local Economies, but Takes More Than a Policy Change to Work

Date: 27 Aug 2015 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

The decision of which firm will get the food service contract at the City Hall cafeteria doesn’t always make it into the news, but local governments spend a lot of money. In towns, counties, and states everywhere, there are roads to be paved, lawyers to be hired, and office supplies to be purchased, and the rules set up to govern those contracts—procurement policies—hold significant potential for governments to grow their local economies.… Read More

For Cities, Big-Box Stores Are Becoming Even More of a Terrible Deal

Under what has become known as the “dark store” method, big-box retailers are declaring their busy stores to be functionally obsolescent and therefore nearly worthless for tax purposes —and they’re winning big judgments for back taxes. It’s the latest example of the way that, even as local governments continue to bend over backwards to attract big-box development, these stores are consistently a bad deal for communities. … Read More

The Do-It-Yourselves Downtown

Date: 23 Feb 2015 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

There’s an emerging model that offers a glimpse of a new, better way for communities to generate economic development. It’s called a real estate investment cooperative, and the benefits include new jobs in the neighborhood, local sources for key goods, a return on investment, and more — plus the opportunity for communities to do it themselves.… Read More

Why North Dakotans Should Vote to Keep the State’s Unique Pharmacy Law this Election Day

Date: 3 Nov 2014 | posted in: Retail | 0 Facebooktwitterredditmail

This Tuesday, North Dakota voters will decide the fate of the state’s Pharmacy Ownership Law. Those working against the law—namely Walmart, which has sunk more than $3 million into a front group called North Dakotans for Lower Pharmacy Prices—contend that abandoning the long-standing policy would lead to an increase in the number of pharmacies serving North Dakota. Our research suggests just the opposite.… Read More

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