“In nature pollinators like bees, butterflies, or bats carry pollen from plant to plant, and they instinctively know that the intermixing of these pollens nourishes the entire ecosystem. Pollinator businesses similarly carry the best elements of one local business to another, thereby fertilizing all local businesses and creating a healthy entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
~ Michael Shuman, The Local Economy Solution

This spring, the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship is excited to sponsor a unique opportunity for our region — one that we hope creates much “buzz” and boosts our collective efforts to grow our local economy.  Michael Shuman, author and leading expert on community economics, will visit our region on April 7 – 8 to share the latest buzz in local economy work — Pollinator Enterprises.  He will provide inspiration for developing, launching and amplifying the work of new and existing pollinator enterprises here in the Monadnock Region and beyond.
Pollinator Enterprises are innovative, self-financing businesses and nonprofits that drive job growth and community prosperity by supporting economic planning, entrepreneurship, local purchasing, workforce development, collaboration and local investing.  They are diverse in nature and include youth entrepreneurship schools, local debit cards, makerspaces and local farm delivery services.
The success of these businesses is not solely tied to their financial bottom line, but is connected to community goals like the percentage of jobs in locally owned businesses, number of citizens prepared to start a new business, survival rate of local businesses and other social and environmental measures.
We invite you to learn more about Pollinator Enterprises with Michael Shuman at Monadnock Buy Local’s free public talk on April 7th at 7 p.m. at the Keene State College Alumni Center. This event is part of the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce’s Regional Issues Series.  Michael will also lead a more in-depth daylong workshop on April 8th at the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship.  Learn more at monadnocklocal.org/pollinators.
Our region has a strong vision for a sustainable community and solid economic development plans to get us there.  Let’s expand our capacity to implement this work!  Pollinator Enterprises illuminate a path forward for us — towards our collective vision.  Please explore this new model of community economic development with us, and discover how we can help our local economy flourish.