Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Letter from the Editor of the Social Venture Network Series -- Acknowledgments -- INTRODUCTION Why local? -- 1 Customer and community first -- Partnering with Customers: The Longfellow Clubs, Wayland, Massachusetts -- An Idea Whose Time Had Not Come -- Balancing Pricing for Profit with Reaching a Broader Customer Base -- Best Practices in Partnering with Customers -- Take Care of Your Customer and Your Community: TAGS Hardware, Cambridge, Massachusetts -- Personalizing Your Product: The King's English Book Shop, Salt Lake City, Utah -- Connecting Customers with the Community: Joie de Vivre Hospitality, San Francisco, California -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with Customers -- 2 Values-based financing -- Sources of Capital -- Banks and Credit Unions -- Venture Capital, Private Equity, and Angels -- Nonprofits and Foundations -- City, County, State, and Federal Government Agencies -- Friends and Family -- Business Stakeholders -- Unconventional Financing -- Partnering with Investors: City Fresh Foods, Roxbury, Massachusetts -- Bootstrapping Is Tough Business -- Balancing the Needs of Entrepreneurs with the Needs of Financial Partners -- Best Practices in Partnering with Investors -- Partnering with Socially Conscious Investors: Small Potatoes Urban Delivery, Vancouver, British Columbia -- Partnering with a Local Bank Committed to the Community: ANSCO Real Estate, Chicago, Illinois -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with Investors -- 3 Partnering with your employees -- Partnering with Employees: The Greyston Bakery, Yonkers, New York -- When Expanding a Business, Add Expertise -- Balancing the Need for Technology with the Mission of Providing Jobs -- Best Practices in Partnering with Employees -- Building New Business: Zingerman's Delicatessen, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Creating an Employee-Owned Company: South Mountain Company, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts -- Supporting Employees in Becoming Homeowners: Rejuvenation, Portland, Oregon -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with Employees -- 4 Business networking for local value -- Partnering with Other Businesses: The White Dog Cafe, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Don't Order Your Chickens until the Financing Hatches -- Balancing Buying from Local Farmers with Maintaining Consistency and Efficiency -- Best Practices in Partnering with Other Businesses -- Promoting Local Agriculture: Higgins Restaurant, Portland, Oregon -- Building an Inner-City Business: Roxbury Technology Corporation, Boston, Massachusetts -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with Other Businesses -- 5 Creating partnerships with nonprofits -- Partnering with Nonprofits: Hanna Andersson, Portland, Oregon -- Apply Business Smarts to Your Giving -- Balancing Profitability with a Costly Social Mission Program -- Best Practices in Partnering with Nonprofits -- Adopting a Nonprofit: Wild Planet Toys, San Francisco, California -- Creating Horizons for Homeless Children: Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Boston, Massachusetts -- Cause-Related Marketing: Tom's of Maine, Kennebunk, Maine -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with Nonprofits -- 6 Making sustainability your competitive advantage -- Partnering with the Environment: Gardener's Supply, Burlington, Vermont -- It's Not Good Business If It Doesn't Make Money -- Balancing the Need for Marketing Materials with a Concern for Increasing the Waste Stream -- Best Practices in Partnering with the Environment -- Revitalizing and Preserving an Inner-City Neighborhood: Bazzani Associates, Grand Rapids, Michigan -- Producing and Processing Nutritious Food: Seven Stars Yogurt, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with the Environment.

7 Collaborating with government -- Partnering with Government Agencies: The American Reading Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- Partner with Those Who Have the Most at Stake -- Balancing Passion with Patience -- Best Practices in Partnering with Government Agencies -- Encouraging Children to Read More: Powell's Books, Portland, Oregon -- Constructing an Environmentally Friendly Building: New Seasons Market, Portland, Oregon -- Moving People off Welfare and into Jobs That Pay a Living Wage: Cascade Engineering, Grand Rapids, Michigan -- Lessons Learned: Partnering with Government Agencies -- 8 Building a bridge to the future -- Building a Legacy and a Source of Community Pride -- Joining Together to Build a Better Community and a Better World -- Love -- Notes -- Suggested Reading -- Resources -- Index -- About Social Venture Network -- About the Authors.