S.W.E.E.T. — Sustainable Wawarsing-Ellenville Economic Taskforce — wants to build a more self-reliant community by educating and empowering local manufacturers, retailers, and consumers to take more control of their own economic destiny, through emphasis on local ownership, local production, and local financing when it comes to creating or maintaining businesses, rather than depending on outside corporations with no stake in our long-term stability or growth. Steve Krulick, an Ellenville Trustee, and Steering Committeeperson of Sustainable Hudson Valley, began the group to be a local affiliated chapter of SHV. Although still in start-up mode, Krulick has already involved community members in two programs to get them thinking about "locally-based living economies" that reject more conventional models of economic development.

On November 29, at least five area residents attended a lunch/workshop in Kingston where author/economist Michael Shuman (The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition), presented examples of communities resisting "big box" onslaughts, and how locally-based businesses are better in every way for the health and success of a community and its economy.

On December 4 at the Ellenville Library, Krulick presented a second showing of Independent America, a film made by a couple travelling 13,000 miles across America on only secondary roads and only shopping in "mom & pop" stores... no chains, no interstates, no big boxes. They saw how some communities were adversely affected by big box stores, how others fought to prevent them, and how various small businesses managed to survive and thrive amidst the controversies and challenges. Thirty attendees, representing local businesses, the media, and concerned citizens, were inspired by what they saw, and stayed afterwards to discuss how the ideas in the film could be applied to local circumstances.

"Of course, Wal-Mart came up," said Krulick. "It was clearly the elephant in the living room. When Dick Peters (Peters Market) explained how a company that buys 89,000 cases of Coke can undercut nearly all his prices, even selling below cost, and this represented a level of competition beyond anything he's faced yet, everyone was stunned. But the luncheon, film, and S.W.E.E.T. itself, are not about being 'anti-anything' so much as being 'pro-local development' and working as a team of citizens to 'Think Local First' and then educate the public on how important it is to support existing local businesses that meet local needs first, and then grow more of them.

To demonstrate, Krulick has been working with Dick and Pat Peters to develop an alternative plan for the Napanoch Mall. With the Peters willing to consider moving into the old Grand Union as one anchor, Krulick contacted several small department store chain owners upstate who have already re-opened more than a half-dozen old Ames stores between them. "Following the model of Powell, Wyoming, which raised nearly $400,000 in locally-sold shares to re-open a closed Stage department store — now community-owned, and in the black since day one — I said that, if they could provide the expertise and supplier contacts, we could put up much of the financing and support. They all thought this was a viable plan worth pursuing, and this is only after one day's calling! Imagine what we could do with more time," enthused Krulick. "So even if the Wal-Mart deal proceeds, we don't have to roll over; learning from other communities, we can show why it's a bad bargain for us, but also offer a better plan in its place. When people eventually see how loss of local businesses can devastate us, I think they will rally to this new approach."

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