『Ithaca Local Economy Lab -- Radical Experiments in Business and Community』のカバーアート

Ithaca Local Economy Lab -- Radical Experiments in Business and Community

Ithaca Local Economy Lab -- Radical Experiments in Business and Community

著者: Dia local economy nerd
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Ithaca Local Economy Lab Real experiments in 'radical' alternative economics — from one unusually interesting small city

Ithaca, NY once printed its own money. Ithaca HOURS circulated for decades, valuing a plumber's hour the same as a professor's, keeping millions of dollars of spending power inside the community. It was radical. It worked. And it was just the beginning.

Today, a worker cooperative runs one of the best-loved coffee shops in town. A shared commercial kitchen has made food entrepreneurship accessible to people who couldn't otherwise afford the infrastructure. A fiber cooperative is doing the slow, deliberate work of rebuilding a regional textile economy from sheep to shelf. An antique mall operates as a genuine community enterprise. A local business runs on gifting — and is still standing.

Ithaca Local Economy Lab documents these experiments across regenerative, circular, solidarity, and gifting economies. Hosted by Dia, local economy nerd and community-minded neighbor, each episode is a real conversation with the people inside one of these models. The reality of how it was built, how it's financed, what it's taught them, where things went wrong, and how others can learn the lessons.

Inside the show:

  • Ithaca HOURS: the local currency that kept money working locally and what it proved

  • LocalFiber: regenerative fiber production and a blueprint for local textile economies

  • Shared Kitchen Ithaca: circular infrastructure that removes the capital barrier from food entrepreneurship

  • Gimme Coffee Cooperative: solidarity ownership in daily practice, governance, profit-sharing, hard decisions

  • Found in Ithaca: what happens when an antique mall becomes a genuine community enterprise

  • The gifting economy: one Ithaca business proving generosity can be a sustainable model

For entrepreneurs in smaller cities building something that lasts. For curious people who want examples over arguments. For anyone who's ever thought: the economy is a design, not a law of nature — so who gets to redesign it?

Ithaca has been answering that question for over thirty years. Come listen.

📅 New episodes monthly on the first Thursday 🌐 IthacaLocalEconomyLab.com ⭐ Support independently: patreon.com/Practicalmuse

Practically Real Enterprises, LLC
社会科学 経済学
エピソード
  • How to Own Your Power
    2026/08/06

    Every month, money leaves the house for electricity, heat, and gas, and every month it's simply gone. Paul Fenn calls that energy rent, and it costs about $70,000 per decade for an average NYSEG household.

    Fenn is the founder and president of Local Power, the consultancy Bloomberg once called the utility industry's number one enemy. He now administers the municipality of Ithaca's two energy pilot programs. One is the CCA, which buys electricity and gas in bulk for the whole municipality and is currently paused pending state regulators. The other is Own Your Power, which is open to renters as well as owners.

    Own Your Power helps participants design and buy energy systems on their own site or block: rooftop solar, heat pumps, hot water, storage, and a two-way EV charger that works as a battery, all run as one asset. This pilot takes on the soft costs of paperwork and design that can otherwise make these complete energy system solutions unaffordable.

    In this episode:

    • Why deregulation and LNG exports left New York households exposed to global gas prices
    • CCA versus Own Your Power: opt-out bulk buying (paused) versus opt-in ownership (running now)
    • How renters participate: modular equipment you can take with you, shares in a neighbor's system, buy-in written into a lease
    • Co-op, trust, or go it alone: three ways to own a system, including one with no meetings

    In or around Ithaca? Sign up at tompkins-gen.com. Anywhere else, CCA law already exists in about half the U.S., and Local Power works with communities in both halves.

    Contact

    • Own Your Power / T-GEN sign-up: https://www.tompkins-gen.com
    • Local Power: https://localpower.com

    Resources & Links

    • City of Ithaca Green New Deal: https://www.cityofithacany.gov/827/Green-New-Deal
    • Ithaca Local Economy Lab: https://ithacalocaleconomylab.com

    The Practically Real Team:

    • Jake Gribschaw - Technical Advisor https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgribschaw
    • Stacey Cornelius - Associate Producer https://agencyofwords.com
    • Sonia Simone - Content Strategist https://remarkable-communication.com
    • Erin O'Shaughnessy - Creative Consultant https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/erin-o-shaughnessy-depoe-bay-or/373808
    • Yen Ospina - Artist http://yenospina.com
    • Carsie Blanton - Musician http://carsieblanton.com
    • Photography by Forest Floor Creatives https://forestfloorcreatives.com

    Produced by Practically Real Enterprises, LLC. Hosted by Dia.

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    46 分
  • The Carbon Offset You Can Actually See - Sustainable Finger Lakes Climate Fund
    2026/07/02

    What if the solution to one of climate policy's most criticized tools was hiding in plain sight, right here in the Finger Lakes? In this episode, host Dia sits down with Gay Nicholson to explore the Finger Lakes Climate Fund: a local carbon offset program that has spent over a decade turning $25 donations into real, verified home energy upgrades for low-to-moderate income families across Tompkins County, and in the process becoming one of the most transparent and effective community climate programs in the country.

    Calculate and offset your carbon footprint at https://sustainablefingerlakes.org

    Links

    https://fingerlakesclimatefund.org

    https://www.nyserda.ny.gov

    https://southerntiercec.org/tompkins

    https://climatesmart.ny.gov/actions-certification/participating-communities/

    https://www.tccpi.org/climate-smart-communities.html

    https://townithacany.gov/get-involved-in-town-sustainability-efforts/

    https://www.halcoenergy.com/rebates-financing/

    https://www.nyiso.com

    https://utilityproject.org

    https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/EmPower-New-York-Program

    http://nodatacenterflx.com

    https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org

    https://www.aceee.org

    The Practically Real Team:

    • Jake Gribschaw - Technical Advisor https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgribschaw
    • Stacey Cornelius - Associate Producer https://agencyofwords.com
    • Sonia Simone - Content Strategist https://remarkable-communication.com
    • Erin O'Shaughnessy - Creative Consultant https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/erin-o-shaughnessy-depoe-bay-or/373808
    • Yen Ospina - Artist http://yenospina.com
    • Carsie Blanton - Musician http://carsieblanton.com
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    1 時間 4 分
  • Grounds for Change - How a Cup of Coffee Makes for a Better Economy
    2026/06/04

    In this episode, Claire Christensen shares the inspiring story of Gimme! Coffee's transition to a worker-owned cooperative, illustrating how business models rooted in shared ownership can promote community engagement, environmental responsibility, and employee empowerment.

    Main Topics:

    • The origins and evolution of Gimme! Coffee from a local coffee shop to a worker-owned cooperative
    • The process and challenges of transitioning to a cooperative model during the pandemic
    • How profit sharing, governance, and decision-making work within a worker-owned business
    • The role of community engagement and environmental sustainability in Gimme! Coffee’s mission
    • Benefits, commitments, and how employee ownership influences workplace culture
    • The impact of cooperative principles on business stability and community relationships
    • Future plans for expansion, new product development, and business stability through property ownership

    Resources & Links:

    • Gimme Coffee Website
    • Fair Trade America
    • Worker-Owned Cooperatives in the US
    • Cooperative Principles
    • Fairtrade Premium Projects, detailing how premiums are used for community development and environment

    Resources & Links:

    • https://IthacaLocalEconomyLab.com
    • Jake Gribschaw - Technical Advisor https://www.linkedin.com/in/jgribschaw
    • Stacey Cornelius - Associate Producer https://agencyofwords.com
    • Sonia Simone - Content Strategist https://remarkable-communication.com
    • Erin O'Shaughnessy - Creative Consultant https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/erin-o-shaughnessy-depoe-bay-or/373808
    • Yen Ospina - Artist http://yenospina.com
    • Carsie Blanton - Musician http://carsieblanton.com
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    49 分
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