The materials for the Shuman program include: a PowerPoint presentation [1.1MB] and a handout. The materials can be viewed with Acrobat Reader.

Michael Shuman Bio
Michael Shuman, an attorney and economist, is director of Community Ventures, a nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC. He has written, co-written, or edited six books, including most recently, Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998). He has also written over a hundred articles on community economics and philanthropy for periodicals like The Washington Post, New York Times, The Nation, and the Chronicle on Philanthropy. Shuman has given an average of a talk a week for 20 years, including invited lectures or paid consultancies in eight countries, 26 cities, and at 27 universities.

In recent years Shuman has been promoting his concept of Going Local through a variety of projects, including creating a small-business venture capital fund in New Mexico, as well as other local economy projects in other states.

Most economic development specialists have urged New Mexico to focus on attracting global companies and exporting its goods far and wide. Shuman argues that a far better strategy for the state is to nurture small local businesses that serve primarily in-state markets. These businesses are much more reliable producers of long-term wealth, generate a higher economic multiplier, pay more taxes, operate with higher labor and environmental standards, and are even more innovative. Still, a local business revolution requires overcoming one huge difficulty -- the absence of in-state investment capital. Too many dollars that should be invested in New Mexican small business are instead being sent out of the state, many being invested in global companies with few ties to the state.

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