First meeting of 2012

The Council for the Borough of Princeton has proposed the formation of a Transportation Improvement District (TID) along University Place in Princeton.

The proposal cites certain benefits that its proponents believe the TID would bring, describes the organization that would be created to execute the actions of the TID, and explains the source of funding for the TID. More detail on this proposal will be distributed shortly.

The PMA Board would like to advocate on behalf of its members on this important decision, but first needs to hear your views on the matter. As such we are hosting a forum at our upcoming General Meeting to hear your questions, views, concerns and comments. Please come prepared to listen and speak.

Mark Censits, one of our Directors, will moderate a conversation based on the questions and comments that he receives in advance of the meeting. Each topic will be given approximately 5 minutes for discussion. The goal is not to make a decision or to resolve any major concerns, but to surface the key issues that you, our members, feel are important with respect to this topic.

If you would like to participate in the discussion, we ask that you send a brief description of the comment or question you would like to raise to mark@princetonmerchants.org.

Let us know you are coming. RSVP Here.

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Season Greetings

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A Day-long Workshop with Michael Shuman

Posted Nov 23, 2011 | Comments (1)

On Tuesday, March 13, 2012 – Wall Street or Nassau Street?
Small, local businesses constitute roughly half of a typical community’s economy, even more in rural areas and small towns, and yet almost none of Americans’ $30 trillion in long-term savings goes into these local businesses.

In his forthcoming book, Local Dollars, Local Sense, community economist Michael Shuman argues that creating opportunities to invest in local business could move $15 trillion from Wall Street to Main Street and create millions of new jobs.

Join Us
PMA is hosting a day-long workshop with Michael Shuman to explore:

• Creating opportunities for community residents to invest in local businesses
• Strategies Princeton businesses can adopt to attract more local investment dollars
• Types of banks, credit unions, loan funds, investment funds, stock exchanges and other institutions that a community can create to facilitate this new road to prosperity.

Through a concise and entertaining presentation—full of illuminating examples from communities around the nation—Shuman explores how local investment strategies can benefit economic development and the individual investor. He will also explain the role that cooperatives, institutional lenders, accredited and unaccredited investors, investment pools and public policies have in building a strong and vibrant local economy.

Who should attend?

• Entrepreneurs and local business leaders looking for new sources of capital.
• Grassroots groups involved in Buy Local campaigns, as well as community development, low-income housing, alternative energy systems, and local food systems.
• Public officials and policy makers tasked with economic development, as well as related non public groups like the Chamber of Commerce, labor unions, and churches.
• Those running institutions involved in community finance, including banks, credit unions, community foundations, investment advisors, and pension-fund managers.

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MICHAEL SHUMAN is research director for Cutting Edge Capital in Oakland, economic-development director for the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), and a fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. An economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Shuman has previously authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small-Mart Revolution (which won a bronze price from the Independent Publishers Association for best business book of 2006) and Going Local (1998). He has led community-based economic-development and local-food initiatives across the country. During the past twenty five years, he has given an average of more than one invited talk per week and he has written nearly 100 articles for publications such as the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Parade, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Shuman lives in Silver Springs, Maryland.

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Merging Announcement

The Princeton Merchants Association and Hometown Princeton are proud to announce the merger of these two innovative organizations.
We are focused on the continued growth and sustainability of local business owners, educators and service providers.

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