To help booksellers educate consumers about the benefits independent businesses bring to their communities, last December, the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) created two posters featuring attention-getting talking points. One poster compared Amazon.com's contributions to California, in terms of taxes, donations, and employment, to that of independent booksellers.

In what looks to be a growing, if not rather ironic, trend in many small towns around the country, a chain store has spurred the formation of yet another independent business alliance (IBA). It was a proposed development to be anchored by a Borders Books & Music that was a catalyst for the creation of the Austin, Texas, IBA; another Borders opening that inspired the creation of an IBA in Corvalis, Oregon; and, most recently, in St.

In small towns across America, booksellers are in the vanguard of those battling to change or maintain current zoning laws in order to restrict store size and thereby ensure their community's continued uniqueness.

The American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) is again declaring the week of July 1 - July 7 Independents Week. "It's a time to reflect on the importance of economic democracy and community self-determination by celebrating our nation's locally owned independent businesses and the stake each citizen has in shaping their home town's future," stated AMIBA Director Jennifer Rockne. "Independents Week was a great success last year, our first year of doing this as a national campaign. We only expect participation to grow each year."

Like local merchants in many towns across the country, independent businesses in Raleigh, North Carolina, are facing an intimidating and rather daunting retail landscape -- one that is peppered with chain stores for seemingly every imaginable niche. "Raleigh is inundated with chains," said Nancy Olson of Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. "There's not one business not being threatened by a chain."

As a partner in Civic Economics, Dan Houston is emerging as a leading proponent of progressive economic development. The firm, which he founded with Matt Cunningham, provides "businesses, communities, and civic organizations with creative tools to achieve sustainable prosperity."

When the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) announced that November 20 would be America Unchained day, Jennifer Rockne, AMIBA's director, noted that the event, which asked people to shop only at locally owned retailers in their communities, was organized primarily to be a "media" event, with the ultimate goal of helping community members comprehend the economic benefit that local businesses provide.

As senior researcher with the New Rules Project (a program of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance), a board member of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), and author of the book The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters (Institute for Local Self-Reliance), Stacy Mitchell has become a leading advocate for indep

On Wednesday, November 17, Stacy Mitchell -- author of The Hometown Advantage: How to Defend Your Main Street Against Chain Stores and Why It Matters (Institute for Local Self-Reliance) -- will speak at the University of Tampa in a fundraising event sponsored by the Tampa Independent Business Alliance (TIBA).