At Capital Institute we believe that in order to thrive, all human communities--small, medium, and large--need to continually invest in their internal assets, capacities, and capital (and here we mean capital in all its multiplicitous forms).  Fortunate indeed are those communities that understand that very basic principle, and that have the wherewithal to identify and participate in the knowledge networks, both internal and external, that can support them as they work to build sustainable vitality.

Twenty years ago, I started up a community newspaper in a suburban city north of New York.  Over the ensuing eight years that the paper was published, our small city encountered many challenges.  For a time, the paper brought together a small but enthusiastic band of local residents and business people who sought to invest in our internal assets: to encourage economic development by reviving our depressed downtown in a way that reflected our city's rich diversity, to save our historic buildings from the wrecking ball, and to find creative ways to encourage active stewardship of our dwindling open space.

When we were particularly discouraged by a government intent on seeking solutions only from outside developers who wanted to remake our gritty city on their own terms and at taxpayers' expense, I would scour the Internet (this was pre-Google days!), searching for a network of like-minded people who might offer support and encouragement to our beleaguered grassroots activists.  A highlight was the day we brought renowned urbanist Roberta Gratz to tour our downtown and speak to a packed house eager for her advice.  But that was only a day and it was hard to build momentum from there.   I have often thought that if we had been able to connect with the robust organization that The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) is today and had access to the many ongoing network building opportunities it now offers, we might have had a fighting chance to achieve the critical mass and the negotiating savvy to jumpstart a community-led revival in our city.

So in its 15th anniversary year, we want to salute BALLE, its leaders, and its mighty band of Fellows, in particular those we have celebrated in past Field Guide stories.  How lucky are the communities that now have BALLE to guide them through these dark days and into the light of a regenerative, new economy.