Page 18 RAIN February/March 1983 Investing in the Community By Kris Nelson The well-seasoned appropriate technologist knows that great project ideas don't just wither away; they frequently don't get financed. Not only does the master ATer suffer, but the community also loses a potenHally valuable investment in its own self-reliance. Savings banks and conventional finance sources are not entirely to blame. Inflation, high interest rates, and a shortage of funds necessitate lending to more competitive borrowers outside the community. Financing A.T. projects often comes against a structural barrier. Namely, that banks making decisions about the use of local depositors' money are forced to do so on the basis of economic feasibility, rather than community sustainability. Sadly enough, these two interests actually complement one another, since A.T. projects are increasingly cost-effective. The appropriate role of lending institutions, however, is to administer loans and not necessarily to judge their use on the community's behalf. Yet by pooling deposits locally that are normally sent off to capital-intensive investments (often supporting ventures in racist South Africa or nuclear boondoggles, for instance), capital can be obtained and insured. In order to involve the community interest in accessing such self-secured capital, an association of community members could be formed. This association could provide marketing and technical assistance to projects, making capital loans less risky. Unlike tradihonal lending institutions, the association would be in a position to designate funds for the development of local energy, food, and human service needs. These principles are, in fact, being applied by SHARE, Self Help Association for a Regional Economy (Box 125A, RD 3, Great Barrington, MA 01230 413/528-1737), the innovative work of Robert Swann and Susan Witt of the E. F. Schumacher Society. The strength of SHARE resides in its associations. These are six "loan groups" (Producer Co-ops/Small Businesses, Consumer Co-ops, Individual Loans, Agriculture Loans, Mortgages on Land and Buildings, and Non-profits) that evaluate loan requests in their categories. Each association — composed of SHARE members, loan requesters, and recipients — elects a Board member, and the associations evaluate loan requests according to SHARE'S criteria: 1) whether the loan will create greater regional self-reliance in either basic necessities (food, shelter, energy) or basic community services (transportation, health care, job training, and cultural activities); 2) whether the project would increase local employment and/or use local resources, conserve energy and be non-polluting to the environment; and 3) whether the loan creates savings of greater productivity which can repay the loan. The associations in turn advise the Board as to the loan's viability and consistency with SHARE'S criteria. Before the request is confirmed, a borrower in the association, a solar manufacturer, for example, could draw up a contract with another member, say an energy co-op. The pre-arranged market for the manufacturer reduces the risk and, therefore, the interest on an otherwise costly loan. Moreover, managerial, technical, and marketing assistance can all be obtained within the association. A further risk/cost reducer. When the first loan request came before the SHARE- croppers, the agricultural association of SHARE, producer-consumer cooperation went to work. Goat raiser Susan Sellew needed money to construct a building for her goat cheese dairy. Through other SHARE- croppers, she established local markets for her cheese and borrowed $3,000 through SHARE. Meanwhile, SHAREcroppers here "found the meetings about marketing and cooperative possibilities shmulating," explained the South. Berkshire Farm Bulletin, reporting on the process. The Bulletin continued, "As a result of connections between SHAREcroppers and local food buying clubs, contracts for locally grown root crops are being drawn up for Pumpkin Hollow Coop, which has access to a large root cellar." SHARE provides three funds administered for its members by the Great Barrington Savings Bank: the SHARE Credit Fund, for collateral support on short term loans to businesses or individuals; the SHARE Direct
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