Volunteers . Values

WHAT is a WEconomy?A WEconomy is a robust, resilient local economy that emerges by employing the principles of the Sustainable Communities Framework (SCF), a new economic paradigm designed to provide the necessary ingredients to restore communities in crisis or build sustainable resilience for communities of any kind.Over a decade of research yielded detailed evidence of how prosperous communities historically thrived, and continue to, without the biases, constraints and limitations of modern global finance.The SCF now brings these successes into modern context primarily via three breakthrough technologies: 1) a truly free marketplace open to all residents that actually pays its users to transact with each other; 2) a venture & workforce development ecosystem featuring incubation, acceleration, and training programs; 3) a freely available digital community currency (local dollars) issued through trusted local non-profits. These three primary assets, together, support regional innovation, meaningful employment, and ample nutrition...all leading to sustainable prosperity.Please let us know your thoughts on how it would work for you:1. A truly FREE MARKETplace™ where residents freely list their goods & services for sale & hire, for free.• The FREE MARKETplace will even pay residents in local dollars just to try out the platform and introduce it to their friends and neighbors! Because more local transactions make money for business owners, and those profits stay local longer—known as the "local multiplier effect"—leading to the creation of more community capital, shared more equitably among local stakeholders.• The FREE MARKETplace is “Better than Barter”™, not only for the convenience of an online platform like Facebook Marketplace or eBay or Etsy, but where the same local dollars can be used at any business wishing to attract more customers and increase their revenue. And, unlike profits at big box and chain stores where franchise fees, revenue and profits are extracted to corporate banking centers domestic and abroad, WEconomy communities enjoy the local multiplier effect, circulating local dollars often more than 4x further than US dollars would.2. A powerful Entrepreneurship & Workforce Development platform, whether utilized physically or virtually, providing all the resources more commonly found in leading research universities and tech hubs.• If you have an idea, you'll have the tools and guidance to take it to market. Our Entrepreneurship programs have been refined over decades, supporting entrepreneurs by providing critical resources from product development to startup launch, including incubation, mentorship and even fundraising after you've proven your project is market-ready. Our program ensures that "when you complete, you can compete".• If you have a small business, our online “roadmaps” guide innovators and job creators in growing their ideas and businesses safely before risking other people's money. And when finally ready to seek outside investment, we can even show you how to thank your customers most—by sharing your success with them through Crowdfunding—as shareholders of a business they already support.• Support from both global experts and area mentors—these valuable contributors are motivated to perform by competitive pay, generous incentives, and a deep sense of pride and belonging. Breaking through this common roadblock allows more talent to stay local, build legacy enterprises, generational wealth, and help their communities avoid crippling “brain drain”.• Businesses founded, funded and grown locally keep more neighbors employed and keep more profits local, not sending off homegrown capital to Wall Street brokers and offshore tax havens.• Our Workforce development and training programs build in-demand soft-skills and relevant work experience, helping businesses avoid mis-hires which can have devastating effects to both teams and a company's competitiveness.• All this access to local capital expands local production capacity and increases regional GDP.3. A first-ever digital community currency is used in the marketplace to pay for goods and services made or offered locally.• Local currencies are a historic standard and still facilitate most transactions worldwide, and WEconomy money is even easier to earn and spend. Freely available to all residents, there are no means tests, no FICO scores, no collateral, no subjective or artificial hurdles.• WEconomy currencies are simply a medium of exchange, on par with the US dollar, no different than things you likely use already, like grocery coupons, loyalty rewards, or airline mileage awards.• Your WEconomy balance can be used in more places than just at a “buy local” campaign participant's shop. You can spend your WEconomy money in the FREE MARKETplace just as you shop online now—same as using a debit card, PayPal balance or Apple Cash. And with vendors who do business outside the FREE MARKETplace online, you can pay them Venmo style, with a digital “wallet” on your smartphone, or even with a debit card featuring your own personal QR code. And unlike gift cards or paper coupons, you can’t accidentally lose your WEconomy money!• Blocks of WEconomy grants are issued to and administered by qualified, stable, local non-profits and organizations you already know and trust, and who live in your community and share your goals. These organizations will donate money for community projects, make personal and business loans that match their mission, hire more locals to implement plans, offer income to vital and otherwise hard-to-find volunteers...all offering living wages while expanding their organization's impact.

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WHY are we here?Because we all know the current economic system is broken.• 3 individuals hold more wealth than 50% of all Americans combined (tax policy)• 90% of US jobs have been outsourced since 1980 (trade policy)• Creating public money is reserved for private banks (fiscal policy)• 50% of Americans can’t get loans to start businesses to improve their lives or their communities (banking policy)So, do you think your political representatives have your best interest at heart?• The rules of elections, banking, taxation and trade are written by the same politicians commonly entering congress as median earners, yet most "coincidentally" become millionaires within two years of “public” service. What exactly are they teaching at the Capitol?Are you better off than your parents?• 72% of Americans are not, and that # has increased 15% in just two years.Will you leave your children better off than you?• Barely half of Americans own stock, more than half have less than $5000 in savings.Do you have enough money to pay your bills, much less chase your dreams?• 63% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and most will not qualify for an affordable loan.Do you love your job?• Most Americans surveyed say they only keep a job they hate because they literally cannot afford to lose their health insurance (that they can hardly afford to use anyway).• USA, the richest country in the history of the world, spends more per person on healthcare than any other country, yet American infant mortality is at 3rd world standards and our life expectancy has been shrinking for years, despite paying more, individually, for insurance than anywhere else.Do you believe that multinational mega-corporations are good for/to Americans?• 52 of the 100 biggest economies on earth are now corporations• CEOs now make 400x more than their workers. In 1965 it was 24x.• Corporations have never been larger or more profitable than right now.So, is American Capitalism really working for you?• Americans’ purchasing power has not risen since 1964.• Yet the richest 400 Americans now own 60% of US wealth. (https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/)So, does that help you see that status quo is not working for you. . .or for the vast majority of Americans? Because, if you weren't there to see it firsthand, quality of life was better for everyone, when everyone felt they had a fair chance. What if there was another economy built for the rest of us?• There is. Welcome to the WEconomy.

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HOW is WEconomy so different from the U.S. economy?First, it's important we all agree on what money is and is not. Many Americans are shocked to learn that there is no law against anyone creating money. In fact, Americans have always used "complementary" currencies. Often referred to as "scrip", prior to the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall), many associations, banks, co-ops and municipalities issued money, but typically only to counter shortages or financial crises that were somewhat common. We have since seen several national financial crises, despite legislation designed to prevent it.It is also a surprise to many that in the US, private banks currently own the privilege of creating new federal money simply by borrowing your tax dollars from the Federal Reserve and then lending it back to you (or choose to deny you, as is increasingly the case for most Americans) based on their sole assessment of the risk you pose to their collecting sufficient profits from "helping" you. Since the 1980s, Americans have been ill-served by this system, reflected in the buying power of the common family not having increased in that time, while politicians and the top 10% have grown astronomically wealthy in contrast. This is partly what the WEconomy is designed to fix.Lacking access to capital holds back entrepreneurs, small businesses, communities, and naturally, the national GDP. A WEconomy becomes the first path to rebuilding and restoring regional economies by providing ready access to virtually unlimited local capital. Alternative forms of money more common today are "local", "community" or "virtual" currencies. These "people's" currencies take shape in the form of grocery coupons, airline miles and buy-local campaigns—things we all use happily every day. NOTE: local currencies are not "crypto" currencies—they can not be speculated on or lose value. They're just like U.S. dollars, only digital, and limited to use within a regional area, just like how the WEconomy works regionally.In contrast to what our textbooks insist is already a "free market" economy (hint: it is by no means free), WEconomy's FREE MARKETplace is like if Craigslist was safer, or if Facebook took payments, or if eBay sold only goods and services sourced locally, or if Bezos didn’t horde billions (without paying taxes) by selling cheap stuff on Amazon made by slave labor in China.
For starters, the WEconomy's truly free “FREE MARKETplace" takes bartering into the 21st century by allowing anyone to shop for anything listed on the platform, or at local businesses that participate...without needing U.S. dollars. You can even open a shop of your own and sell anything you have or make. The FREE MARKETplace will even pay you just to try it out!WEconomy money is available to anyone in the region in numerous ways: 1) get paid by non-profits to do the important work that volunteers are otherwise asked to do for free; 2) earn a living wage as a mentor; 3) apply for grants for community improvements, 4) seek a loan to launch or expand your business; 5) purchase the local currency with U.S. dollars and enjoy a promotional bonus by shopping as you likely already do every day—online. Because not only can you use your new local money while digitally browsing the regional FREE MARKETplace, but equally important, you will use it to hire local workers and support small businesses.“Want something you saw online? Check your FREE MARKETplace first, because a neighbor may have it for sale, too. And not only can you pay for it with WEconomy money, but that money then stays local and multiplies, enriching the local economy, not evaporating on Wall Street or to hidden accounts in foreign banks.”

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The graphic below illustrates how a WEconomy circular economy can fuel prosperity even in one of America's most distressed communities.

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