American Independent Business Alliance

Think of your favorite shop or restaurant. We'll bet it's a home town business. Independent locally-owned businesses are essential to a vital local economy and community character. They use the goods and services of other local businesses, serve as community hubs, and are vital components of healthy neighborhoods and strong city centers. They're where the locals go. They're owned by our friends and neighbors, or maybe even by you. (see our print-friendly article, The Benefits of Doing Business Locally)
The threat to our communities is real. The trend of increasing recruitment of and dependence on absentee-owned chains -- with formulas dictating everything from the look of the building to who does the printing to where the money gets deposited -- has unhealthy consequences. It's not just local businesses who suffer -- our communities are losing social, cultural and economic strength, a place for entrepreneurship, and the ability to choose our own futures.We are here to help. http://amiba.net/
AMIBA is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We help communities prevent the displacement of locally-owned independent businesses, ensure ongoing opportunities for entrepreneurs, and advance citizen engagement in directing the development of their community through:
Helping citizens launch and successfully operate an Independent Business AllianceSM
National public education and campaigns uniting communities in concerted action -- we're shifting culture to support local businesses
Networking IBAs and sharing good ideas, tools and strategies
Providing a national voice for independent business
An Independent Business Alliance is a coalition of locally-owned independent businesses, citizens and community organizations united to support home town businesses in a community or geographic region. An IBA is a proven tool for helping maintain unique community character, ensuring continued opportunities for entrepreneurs, building local economic strength, and preventing the displacement of locally-owned businesses by chains. An IBA helps return decision-making ability over a community's future to the people who call it "home."
IBAs accomplish this through three focus areas:
Informing citizens of the values provided by community-based businesses and their importance to the local economy, culture and social fabric. This helps residents view themselves as citizens, rather than as consumers, first by engaging them in active dialogue and decision-making about where they choose to spend their money.
Group branding, promotion and advertising to elevate the collective profile of our community-based businesses to help level the playing field and bring to them some of the market advantages chains enjoy.
Creating strong relationships with local government and the media to inform local decision-making and give a voice to the locally-owned independent business community and promote policy that supports community-rooted enterprise.