Jeff Milchen

Jeff Milchen, co-founder of the American Independent Business Alliance, is in the middle of a presentation tour, visiting communities and appearing at trade shows to discuss the benefits that a community garners from nurturing and supporting local, independent businesses.

Last week, Milchen lead a presentation and workshop in Omaha, Nebraska, where Ellen Scott of The Bookworm is working to launch a new independent business alliance. Among his other stops, Milchen is scheduled to speak and conduct a workshop at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut, on Thursday and Friday, May 21 - 22, and at Tome on the Range in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in July. (See Milchen's complete presentation schedule.)

"Once again, booksellers are leading the charge [in the formation of independent business alliances]," Milchen told BTW in a recent telephone interview. Overall, "the interest in independent business alliances has been accelerating for the past 12 months. The recession has played a role in building this momentum, especially among folks in government and economic development. We've seen that communities with a base of small, independent businesses have weathered the recession better than those communities without independents."

The Bookworm's Scott, one of the co-founders of the Omaha Local Business Alliance (OLBA), said that it's "been a long birthing process." The group, which is affiliated with AMIBA, asked Milchen to give a presentation to local business owners at the Regency Lodge in Omaha on Thursday, May 7. There, Milchen discussed the ways that communities can sustain their heritage of local independent business and entrepreneurism in the face of chain proliferation and other challenges. In addition, he detailed dozens of successful campaigns and tools that communities can use to support locally owned businesses.

Scott said the presentation provided a lot of good ideas and had those in attendance excited about the new alliance.

At Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut, Milchen will speak on Thursday evening, followed by a Friday morning workshop. Bank Square's Annie Philbrick said the bookstore's three owners wanted to narrow down the store's top priorities this year to three things "we could possibly get done," and one of those was starting an independent business alliance. "I heard Jeff speak at the Winter Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah," she said. "Jeff said he was coming east, so we jumped at the chance.... There seems to be a great deal of interest here."

Philbrick said they are promoting the event through an e-blast and that the store is "trying to contact locally owned business of all types" in the Mystic region.

For those interested in learning more about what it takes to start an IBA, here's a look at Milchen's upcoming presentation schedule:

• Sunday, May 17: Milchen will speak on "Building Effective Buy Local Campaigns" at the National Summit on Entrepreneurship in Arlington, Virginia.
• Tuesday, May 19: Milchen will lead a workshop on creating effective Buy Local campaigns and community alliances at an event hosted by the Middle Peninsula Business Development Partnership in Saluda, Virginia.
• Thursday and Friday, May 21 and 22: Milchen will present at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut.
• Tuesday, July 14: Milchen will speak at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver Colorado.
• July: Milchen will be at Tome on the Range bookstore in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Details TBA.