Institute for Local Self-Reliance

How has Amazon impacted your small business? "Amazon controls a monopoly tollbooth that sits between businesses and the online market. Over the last few years, it has sharply raised the price of passing through it. In the first half of 2023, using a variety of fees, Amazon took 45 percent of sellers’ revenue in the U.S. That’s up from 35 percent in 2020, and 19 percent in 2014. These exorbitant fees make it nearly impossible for small businesses and other sellers to sustain a viable business online." - "Amazon’s Monopoly Tollbooth in 2023," Institute for Local Self-Reliance READ MORE: https://lnkd.in/ei4su-4G

Excited to share that the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's next webinar will feature Delegate Lorig Charkoudian who represents District 20 in the Maryland General Assembly, and Ida V. Eskamani, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs, at State Innovation Exchange . They will share tips, strategies, and best practices for making an impact on the policymaking process, and will specifically focus on waste, food systems, and environmental local and state policy. You can register at https://lnkd.in/eKKzJUZJ

Government funding can help new grocery stores overcome high startup costs, but without broader solutions to keep these stores open, “we’re throwing money away,” Stacy Mitchell told ProPublica. The long-term solution is to level the playing field: “If we don’t have the enforcement of fair competition, these stores are going to be squeezed out the same way that many independent grocery stores have been squeezed out.” Read the full article to learn why reversing corporate concentration is crucial to tackling food apartheid ??

ILSR’s latest report examines how the poor design and complex bureaucracy of some federal broadband programs can undermine Tribal Nations’ sovereignty and efforts to close the digital divide. Drawing on interviews and public records, Jessica Auer highlights the fundamental concerns Tribes have raised about the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund — and what this means for the future of Tribal connectivity. Check out the full report ??

We're #hiring a new Senior Researcher to work with our Energy Democracy Initiative and make community-owned, local clean energy available everywhere by transitioning power away from the big energy utility monopolies. Apply today or share this post with your network.

More than 1 in 5 homes on Tribal lands lack adequate Internet access, compared to fewer than 1 in 10 on nontribal land. Matthew Rantanen and ILSR’s Christopher Mitchell co-founded the Tribal Broadband Bootcamps to help close this gap by providing hands-on technical training and a supportive community. So far, they’ve reached 72 Tribes and nearly 400 attendees — and their momentum is only growing. Check out AP’s recent article and video about their work ??

Don’t miss today’s virtual event! Tune in at 2:00 p.m. ET: https://lnkd.in/gC3EzNaN

We're #hiring a Multimedia Content Creator! Apply today or share this post with your network to add to a team of creative and brilliant folks who are passionate about breaking the grip of corporate monopolies that dominate our democracy and economy and elevating the power of local communities to write their own futures.

Big Tech is the latest form of tyranny, proclaims Stacy Mitchell, Co-Director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Corporate domination, especially that of giant tech companies, is undermining our democracy and concentrating wealth and power in fewer and fewer hands. Yet Mitchell, longtime anti-monopoly movement leader, is here to tell us they’ve finally met their match. A broad grassroots alliance, together with a new generation of creative government leaders, is bringing long-dormant anti-monopoly laws and strategies back to life. This promising turn of events offers hope for reclaiming our rights and assuring a far more equitable and greener future. Watch her full presentation: https://buff.ly/3Lay4Xd

Dominant corporations leverage structural racism to eliminate competition and control markets. Public policy can help. ??? Save the date for Institute for Local Self-Reliance's event covering their recent #PowerPlay report: https://lnkd.in/g9mNrtDf