If you're planning on watching the parade in Lakeport this Saturday, take a moment to stop by the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County office on Main Street next to Watershed Books between 10am to noon.

We'll have refreshments for your enjoyment, and people available to answer your questions about time banking - a bank where people exchange time instead of cash.

For more information about the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County, visit our web page at http://thrivelakecounty.org/time-bank.html, email timebanklakeco@gmail.com, or call us at 707-413-0220. 

(Lakeport, CA) The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County will hold a "Time Bank Meet-Up Brunch" on Saturday, May 11th from 10am to 12pm at the Lucerne Community Clinic , Route 20 (at 14th Avenue) in Lucerne.

This fun and education event is open to current, new, and potential members of the time bank. The first hour will be focused on acquainting new and prospective members on the concept of time banking, and the second hour will be a "Quick Exchange Line Up" where members meet to get and give services. After the meeting,  there will be time set aside for people wanting time bank software education, as well as a get-together among people wishing to become involved with building the time bank.


All ages welcome. Admission is free, and you can earn hours from the Time Bank from this event in the following ways: 1) One hour will be provided for anybody who brings a breakfast or brunch food item to share with eight other people. 2) One hour will be provided for anybody who brings a friend to the event. 3) One hour will be provided to anyone who stays for the entire event and completes the orientation.

The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County helps Lake County residents get necessary services through allowing the exchange of time instead of cash. To find out more about the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County or for more information about this event, visit the Thrive Lake County website at http://thrivelakecounty.org/time-bank.html, send an email to admin@timebanklakeco.com, or telephone 707-413-0220. 

The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County will hold a "Time Bank Orientation Brunch" on Saturday, April 13th from 10am to 12pm at the Clearlake Methodist Church on 14521 Pearl Ave in Clearlake.

This fun and education event is open to members and potential members of the time bank. The agenda includes an introduction to the concept of time banking, a time for questions and answers, and an activity designed to get participants started in time banking. 

All ages welcome. Admission is free, and you can earn hours from the Time Bank from this event in the following ways: 1) One hour will be provided for anybody who brings a breakfast or brunch food item to share with eight other people. 2) One hour will be provided for anybody who brings a friend to the event. 3) One hour will be provided to anyone who stays for the entire event and completes the orientation.

The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County helps Lake County residents get necessary services through allowing the exchange of time instead of cash. To find out more about the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County or for more information about this event, visit the Thrive Lake County website at http://thrivelakecounty.org/time-bank.html, send an email to admin@timebanklakeco.com, or telephone 707-413-0220. 

The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County will hold a "Time Bank Orientation Brunch" on Saturday, March 9th from 10am to 12pm at the Kelseyville Methodist/UU Church on 3810 Main Street in Kelseyville (across the street from the Saw Shop).

This fun and education event is open to members and potential members of the time bank. The agenda includes an introduction to the concept of time banking, a time for questions and answers, and an activity designed to get participants started in time banking. 

All ages welcome. Admission is free, and you can earn hours from the Time Bank from this event in the following ways: 1) One hour will be provided for anybody who brings a breakfast or brunch food item to share with eight other people. 2) One hour will be provided for anybody who brings a friend to the event. 3) One hour will be provided to anyone who stays for the entire event and completes the orientation.

The Time Bank of Thrive Lake County helps Lake County residents get necessary services through allowing the exchange of time instead of cash. To find out more about the Time Bank of Thrive Lake County or for more information about this event, visit the Thrive Lake County website at http://thrivelakecounty.org/time-bank.html, send an email to admin@timebanklakeco.com, or telephone 707-413-0220. 

We had a great time last night, when over 120 of us showed up to help celebrate our new office space in Lakeport at Lakeworks Community Spaces on Main Street. 

Here are a couple of pictures Carol shot. Do you have more? Email them to admin@thrivelakecounty.org

There's a new excitement about Thrive Lake County, as we have been given the opportunity to take significant strides forward in our work through some generous grant funding from our fiscal sponsor, North Coast Opportunities.

Here's what's in the cards for the beginning of 2013: 

Thrive Lake County / Time Bank of Lake County opens office in Lakeport

Thrive Lake County now has an office at the LakeWorks Community Space next door to Watershed books on 307 N. Main Street in Lakeport. 

The main purpose of the office is to have a presence on the Main Street for the Time Bank of Lake County, now under the umbrella of Thrive Lake County. This is to accommodate a major expansion planned for the Time Bank during 2013.

"We're excited by the possibilities", explains Carol Cole-Lewis, Thrive Lake County's project coordinator. "We believe the Time Bank has the potential for transforming the Lake County economy as people embrace the concept of using time as a currency. If time as a currency can replace some portion of what our residents and businesses are currently spending in cash, there will be more dollars available to pay for things that are not service-related."

The office will officially open its doors on February 26th with a Grand Opening Celebration from 5:30-8pm. There will be live music, food, and games with the formal ribbon cutting by the Lake County Chamber at 6pm. There is no cost for this event.

LakeWorks, a Thrive Lake County member, offers home-based business owners a chance to have a main street presence at very low cost. Included in the low monthly rent are office or retail space, a conference area, fax, copier, signage, furnishings, display window, storage & kitchenette usage. 

Also sharing space with Thrive Lake County will be the Lake County Co-op, who will use the space on Thursdays as a retail space for the sale of co-op products to the public, and as a drop-off point.

Regular Thrive Lake County / Time Bank office hours will be held during March, at which time we will be looking for Thrive Lake County and Time Bank members to staff the desk in return for hours compensation paid through the Time Bank. Leave a comment on this blog or email admin@thrivelakecounty.org if you're interested in helping out.

Economic Development and Time Banking - Feb 6,7 

A select group of community leaders in Lake County and other nearby counties will participate in a two-day immersion training on February 6th and 7th in Lakeport. The participants will learn about Time Banking from a historical perspective, hear success stories from time banks throughout the country, and develop an action plan for growing time banking within Lake County. The meeting will be facilitated by two nationally-known time banking consultants.

We still need helpers to act as wait and bussing staff for a culinary team building activity to be held from 4pm-9pm on February 6th. Helpers will earn Time Bank Hours. If you'd like to take part, leave a comment on this blog or email admin@thrivelakecounty.org.

Home Enterprise Cooperative

A new cooperative is forming that will be the foundation for a new model of grassroots economic development. The Home Enterprise Cooperative will utilize services from its members and Time Bankers to rehabilitate residential properties in Lake County.

Do you have, or would you like to learn, building and constructions skills and be a participant in this project? If so, leave a comment on this blog or email admin@thrivelakecounty.org.

LION (Local Investing Opportunities Network)

We held two meetings in 2012. Both were well-attended by budding entrepreneurs with unique and potentially viable business concepts. We are currently looking for someone to take over the running of LION so it can continue its success into 2013 and beyond. Could this be you? if so, leave a comment on this blog or email admin@thrivelakecounty.org.

Thrive Lake County Quarterly Meeting

November 13th, 2012; 5:30-7:30pm
Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Avenue, Lakeport
Potluck. Bring an item to share
Donation: Free with a potluck item, $5 without
RSVP by leaving a comment below

Be prepared to share what you are doing to promote a healthy local living economy during our community updates. 
 
AGENDA
5:30 Networking

6:00 Thrive Lake County Update

6:15 Special Guest - Terry Daniels, hOurworld
The Hour Exchange in Portland, Maine is one of the oldest and largest time exchanges in the US, with over 1,000 members trading over 20,000 hours annually. hOurworld was formed to take the lessons learned from the Hour Exchange and make it available to a wider audience. Terry has been working with Thrive Lake County for the last 2 months to set the stage for a Lake County pilot project of the CommonWealth - a unique and innovative program from hOurworld that will utilize a cooperative business model, and time as an alternative currency to bring about grassroots economic development. We'll talk with Terry about the CommonWealth, and find out more about the upcoming Lake County pilot project due to launch Q1 2013

7:00 Community Updates

7:25 Summary

7:30 Close

If you're interested in building the Lake County economy through your business idea or with your investment dollars, this event is for you. 

The Thrive Lake County LION (Local Investing Opportunities Network) will meet September 12th from 5:30 to 7:30pm at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Avenue in Lakeport. Any local investor or local business owner is invited to attend.

We’ll get acquainted with each other, learn more about how a LION works, start the process of understanding how to evaluate risk and learn what to ask for from a prospective business investment partner, and hear presentations from several local entrepreneurs.

If you’re a business owner and would like the chance to share your opportunity at this meeting, please visit our website at http://thrivelakecounty.org/call-for-presenters.html . We’ll select from those who reply to the questionnaire you’ll find there. 

Do you have $10 you can put toward a local business? If so, you’re an investor! Come meet other movers and shakers in our community who will transform our local economy from the ground up.

Admission is $5 to cover cost of refreshments. For more information, send an email to admin@thrivelakecounty.org or visit the LION page on the Thrive Lake County website.

Richard Cooper, CEO of Mendo Lake Credit Union and board member of the Economic Development Finance Corporation (EDFC), and John W. Kuhry, Executive Director of EDFC, will be the featured speakers at Thrive Lake County's July 30th meeting.

Cooper will follow up a presentation made at June's Local Investing Opportunity Network meeting. He will further explain the current and planned financing options the credit union has for entrepreneurs looking to build or grow their business.

Kuhry will focus his presentation on the Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) program, which is administered by EDFC. RMDZ provides attractive loans, technical assistance and free product marketing to businesses that use materials from the waste stream to manufacture their products within a zone.

Both men will also field questions regarding the role of EDFC in connecting money to entrepreneurs and ideas.

Time will also be provided at the meeting for networking and open space discussions on energy, food, policy, and alternative economies.

The meeting will run from 5:30pm to 7:30pm and will be held In the community room at the Lucerne Community Clinic on Route 20 at 14th Avenue in Lucerne.

Admission is $5 for Thrive Lake County members, and $10 for non-members to cover the cost of refreshments. 

Please RSVP by commenting on this blog post

Do you value a healthy, thriving, and robust local economy?  Have you wondered about how you can do more, perhaps by investing some of your money in local businesses?  You are not alone.

Thrive Lake County is starting a LION: a local network of potential investors and emerging or established entrepreneurs working to create a more just and sustainable local economy.  We believe savings and investments need to be working in alignment with our values, and we feel the best way to make this happen is to enable local investing.

Today’s SEC (Security and Exchange Commission) rules prevent people from investing privately in a business opportunity unless they are already in relationship with the owner of the enterprise.  In several cities, supporters of the local economy movement have found a way to help people meet SEC rules by bringing them into relationship via fun social and educational gatherings called LIONs – Local Investing Opportunity Networks.

At a LION gathering, local residents come together to socialize, get acquainted, and to meet local entrepreneurs.  Out of these relationship networks, new opportunities for local investing naturally arise.  For example, if you are interested in supporting our local food economy, you might find yourself talking to a local farmer who is partnering with a young entrepreneur to start a food processing business using the farmer’s crops.  Without an established credit rating, the young business owner might not qualify for a bank loan.  But perhaps you could provide the loan and offer terms that give you a return on your investment without draining the emerging business of the profits they need to grow.  Our local food system is strengthened.  Jobs are created.  You have the satisfaction of knowing your money is working in harmony with your values.

You can learn more about LIONs by visiting the LION Investing website, by emailing your questions to admin@thrivelakecounty.org, or by posting a comment below.  And, we hope you will also join us in person on Monday, June 25 from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Lakeport Senior Center, 527 Konocti Avenue in Lakeport.  We’ll get acquainted with each other, learn more about how a LION works, and start the process of understanding how to evaluate risk and learn what to ask for from a prospective business investment partner. There will be a $5 charge to cover the cost of refreshments, payable at the door. Please RSVP by adding a comment to this blog post