Did Somebody Say Free Beer?

The third post in our series on the new Grassroots Outdoor Alliance. A discussion with Dave Matz.
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Last week was a long post so I will try to keep it shorter this time.  I have mentioned BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) www.livingeconomies.org, in my last few posts.  I am intrigued by this organization because they are giving voice to local business just as Grassroots is giving voice to our independent, smaller retail members.

    Specialty outdoor stores now have to deal with a changing retail climate nation-wide with the advent of more and more big-box retailers. BALLE addresses ways for a small, independent retailer to be competitive against this. They also work to bolster sustainable economies, with small businesses that are locally owned being the engines toward such sustainable community economies.

    I see parallels between Grassroots’ goals and those of BALLE.

     As the retail climate continues to change, the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance becomes more important to our members than ever before. Grassroots is working to create more successful businesses for our members, and as part of that goal, we work to promote our members in a unified way on the national level.

    In 2007, Grassroots is committed to promoting our members’ commitments to preserving our local, regional and national recreation areas. 

    All Grassroots members are all involved in environmental causes individually but as a group we have been able to join the Conservation Alliance to help distribute grants of significantly larger amounts of money, up to $70K, to conservation groups throughout North America.

     On a more regional basis, Grassroots works with Patagonia to distribute grants to environmental groups through our member stores.

    At the Winter OR Show we will host a party with Patagonia to highlight some of the environmental causes and organizations Grassroots members have supported in the past year.  The party will be on Monday, January 29th at 5pm at the Patagonia booth.  Come have a beer and check it out.