On this episode of Building Local Power, host Jess Del Fiacco is joined by John Farrell, ILSR Co-Director, and Ron Knox, Senior Researcher with ILSR’s Independent Business initiative. They take a look back at ILSR’s work in 2021 and share big wins, challenges, and interesting trends from the year.… Read More
Amazon is exploiting its position as a gatekeeper to impose steep and growing fees on the small businesses that must rely on its site to reach the online market, our new report finds. Even as these exorbitant fees bankrupt sellers, they are generating huge profits for Amazon, a fact that the tech giant conceals in its financial reports. These profits are not only the spoils of Amazon’s monopoly power. They are the essential fuel that feeds its market-domination strategies.… Read More
Stacy Mitchell and business journalist Rana Foroohar teamed up for an Intelligence Squared debate to argue how Amazon is bad for small business.… Read More
Stacy Mitchell joins Pitchfork Economics to explain how policies drove the rise of Walmart and Amazon, and the urgency of the antitrust movement. … Read More
At the Future Cities conference, ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith moderated a panel discussion about how cities can leverage federal recovery funds to revitalize their commercial districts, create more small businesses, and reduce racial and economic inequality.… Read More
ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell joined Dan Tratensek of the North American Hardware and Paint Association to talk about the momentum in Washington, and at the local level, to level the playing field for small business. … Read More
In Governing, ILSR Senior Researcher Kennedy Smith and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty examine how cities and towns can create affordable space for local businesses and foster a built environment that supports entrepreneurship.… Read More
President Biden signed a sweeping Executive Order aimed at undoing concentrated corporate control and ending decades of consolidation across the economy. The order’s provisions reflect many of ILSR’s priorities.… Read More
Small businesses are fighting back against outsized corporate power and making their voices heard in Washington.… Read More
Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and similar chain dollar stores are targeting vulnerable communities across the US. Our new report details these companies’ rapid expansion, the growing resistance, and the pressing need for federal policy interventions.
Read the report, and find all of our resources and reporting on chain dollar stores here.
