4 Questions: Amy Cortese

Journalist Amy Cortese is the guest speaker at the Rye Chamber of Commerce annual luncheon today. Her new book Locavesting explores the changing landscape of American business and suggests a different model of investing and growth. We asked the insightful author four questions:

Could you say briefly how you got the idea for your book and what locavesting means?

Locavesting is a word I coined to describe the financial innovation I saw bubbling up from the grassroots level after the financial crisis, as people were grasping for alternatives to the Wall Street casino that had wiped out many portfolios and communities. It’s a play on the term locavore – so, just a locavores eat a diet sourced close to home, locavestors invest that way. The idea is to earn profits while supporting your community.

Your book describes the larger systems at play in the financial system today as well as the affect on smaller communities. How would you describe the current climate for small business in this country?

Small businesses are not well served by today’s financial markets. Banks can make more money trading than lending to small businesses, so that’s what they focus on, and the stock market facilitates speculation over long term investment. And venture capitalists are throwing millions of dollars at anything with a whiff of social media. But what about the bread and butter businesses that generate half of private GDP and create more than 2 out of every 3 jobs? The Main Street economy is being left behind.  

By the way, many people think of mom & pop shops when they think local business, and they are the quintessential main Street business. But they can also be high-growth startups or locally owned companies that employ hundreds of people. That’s an important point to note. The distinction is that they are locally owned and are stakeholders in their communities – not run from afar for the sole purpose of maximizing profit. 

You'll be speaking to the Rye Chamber of Commerce this Thursday. What will you say to them? How does your book relate to a community like Rye?

Rye has a healthy downtown with lots of independent businesses, and is probably faring better than many towns and cities in the country. But these issues are of importance to everyone who cares about rebuilding the economy and America’s future. It’s not only about jobs and economic issues, it’s about what kind of world we want to live in. What would Rye be like without all of the wonderful diversity you see on Purchase Street? It might not be as desirable a place to live. I’m going to talk about the value of locally-owned businesses and the ways that citizens across the country are coming up with to invest in them. 

As a journalist, what are the most exciting developments you see on the horizon? 

Well, in terms of local investing, I am really excited about the prospect of local stock exchanges. A lot of people don’t realize that we once had dozens of local exchanges in this country that served their regions, from Buffalo, NY to Boulder, CO. In the rush to globalize and become more efficient, our financial markets have lost that local connection. In places like Lancaster, PA and Hawaii, they are trying to recreate that dynamic with local exchanges that bring together local businesses and investors who want to invest for the long term.