Dear Colleague,

• Our Anchor Dashboard paper, designed to help institutions assess the long-term impact of their economic development activities, was profiled in Next City and on the San Francisco Federal Reserve’s "What Works" website.  The Dashboard identifies twelve indicators that anchor institutions can use to assess current local conditions and evaluate institutional progress in aligning their activities with community needs. The paper will be the centerpiece of an upcoming briefing this fall at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, DC (rescheduled because of the federal government shutdown).

• Many people are asking these days, “What can I do to help build a democratic, local economy?” In response, Democracy Collaborative co-founder Gar Alperovitz and community development associate Keane Bhatt published an article on Truthout, which was then reposted on Bill Moyers' website. The article provides ten concrete action steps that individuals and groups can take to build wealth locally. Read more below.       

• Gar Alperovitz's latest book What Then Must We Do? was the subject of a featured panel on the mainstage of the Baltimore Book Fair moderated by WEAA's Marc Steiner. On Tuesday, October 15, Gar will participate in an online question-and-answer session on Reddit as part of New Economy Week.

• Democracy Collaborative staff members continue to promote the community wealth building paradigm of economic development across the country. Research associate David Zuckerman and research director Steve Dubb both presented at a conference in Duluth, Minnesota that focused on how healthcare institutions can partner with their communities to achieve better health outcomes. Also, at the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center’s inaugural conference in Denver, Colorado, Steve delivered the keynote presentation on community wealth building.