AG 2011 12 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Draft 1.1 -- Not for Distribution or Circulation parents, elderly, or sick —all of whom have a very limited ability to leave their homes and shop. A third category for metabusinesses is finance. All of the following services could be offered for a fee (based on performance or success) or for small equity stakes in the beneficiary businesses. Many of these investments could qualify for low -cost capital through, for example, New Markets Tax Credits. Community Loan Funds – Since banks are so reluctant to extend credit now even to well - established clients with excellent credit records, there may be a need for the community to step in. Many communities have dedicated revolving loan funds for small business, but these tend to be tiny and many are fully tapped already. A way of expanding lent funds might be to create and sell small debt notes to members of the community (essentially nontradable bonds) and place the collected capital either in an existing revolving loan fund or in a bank that agrees to set one up. The latter might translate into an understanding that the community provides the risk capital and the bank simply services the loan. One company, Blue Dot Investments, is now offering communities this service by providing CDs that they in turn place in collaborating banks. The E.F. Schumacher society also has done this directly, intermediating between community lenders and a small number of high - profile local borrows (e.g., Deli Dollars). • Angel Recruiters – A company can be set up to help organize the region's angel investors and showcase to them, perhaps through monthly dinners, the most promising new business opportunities. Small Stock Creation – Cutting Edge Capital, based in Oakland, is one of several companies that help create small, intrastate, direct public offerings at a much lower fee than what's charged by law firms. Through partnerships, a community can work with these companies to create dedicated local offices to help many local companies each year go public. Each public company can buy and sell shares on its own web site. Local Stock Exchange – A better way to facilitate the trading of direct public offerings is through an exchange. Mission Markets, based in New York City, now provides communities the ability to set up a local portal to its virtual exchange platform. This platform is essentially a sophisticated electronic bulletin board, where sellers and buyers post their offers and shop around for great deals. Because transactions can take days or weeks, it looks more like E -Bay than E- Trade, which is actually a plus since it encourages longer -term investment and discourages speculation. The exchange can cover its costs through listing and trading fees. A final metabusiness category is entrepreneurship support. Typically, these services are underwritten by government or philanthropic grants, but it is possible to deploy these on a fee - for - service basis. Attachment number 1 1 -4 Page 340