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As small businesses go into crisis, we need to be pushing for worker ownership. Rather than being shut down, every workplace should have the option for worker...s to turn it into #cooperative before it goes into bankruptcy. - Naomi Klein in her Capitalism and Coronavirus webinar. H/T to New Economy Coalition for uplifting Naomi's support of worker cooperatives.

It just takes a few minutes to complete the Census survey. Please do it - Congressman Mike Thompson had a town hall meeting this afternoon and mentioned that our census numbers will play into the calculations for recovery funding from the federal government. It is important that we are all counted. https://my2020census.gov/

Via Jenny Kassan: "Wall Street is no longer a roller coaster, it’s a runaway train heading over a cliff. Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund pronounced the odds of the global economy growing at all in 2020 as negligible, and global GDP could contract more than 7%. ... There is an alternative. It’s simple and right in front of us. Consider investing in the local businesses you love that will be desperate for cash in the coming months. The federal stimulus package contains an interesting provision that allows American families afflicted with COVID-19 to take a short-term hardship withdrawal from their pension funds. There are no penaltiesyou just have to pay yourself back in three years at a small interest rate (and your fund keeps the interest). You can borrow up to the lesser of 100% of your pension or $100,000. This is a perfect occasion to get started with investing locally."

The Emergency Makers Network platform aims to get critical PPE supplies to frontline health workers by empowering makers with a repository of medically reviewed open-source designs and facilitating their connection with hospitals in need anywhere in the world.

As small businesses go into crisis, we need to be pushing for worker ownership. Rather than being shut down, every workplace should have the option for worker...s to turn it into #cooperative before it goes into bankruptcy. - Naomi Klein in her Capitalism and Coronavirus webinar. H/T to New Economy Coalition for uplifting Naomi's support of worker cooperatives.

North Bay Area Crafters and Sewers coming together to create and donate masks to hospitals during the COVID-19 outbreak - Supply and Material Exchange - Drop off, pick up & Donation Coordination - Patterns, Advice & Tips

Sonoma County Farm Trails has put together this fantastic resource to help the members of our community connect with local farmers & get the resources they need during this shelter-in-place time.

The Imaginists' Living Newsletter | November 21, 7pm We've got exciting projects, prospects, and plans ahead. Let's talk about the Gun, and how we'll Kill the Loan. Sounds ominous for a November evening but we promise it will be cozy, and we'll have tea. Third Thursdays/Open House at the Imaginists is ongoing- ... Every third Thursday of the month we’re opening the doors of the lab: it might be a work in progress, a slideshow, a conversation, a reading, community workshop, or a guest artist showing work. Or it may just be us; cleaning house, talking shop, making things, & drinking coffee. Exact times for Third Thursdays vary, but it will typically be in the evening. This event is always free. Donations are happily accepted but not expected.

With your input, #SonomaCountyLibrary will create a small collection of non-book items that patrons will be able to check out. What should we add to our Library of Things?! Please take the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/discoverlibrary

[via Public Bank Santa Rosa] "WE JUST MADE HISTORY!!! Governor Gavin Newsom just signed #AB857 Public Banks into law, making it possible for California cities and counties to take control of our own future. AB 857 is a victory fueled 100% by people power: -Incredibly committed Alliance activists working together statewide... -Thousands of California residents who understood the urgent need for another way of banking -180+ organizations - labor unions, environmentalists, economic justice advocates, the California Democratic Party, and cities and counties all across California who endorsed the bill -The stewardship of Assemblymembers David Chiu and Miguel Santiago With no budget, no lobbyists, and no playbook, we made our case for public banking -- and for the first law of its kind in the nation. Local public banks in California can divest from fossil fuels. With no motivation to maximize profits, and no legal mandate to funnel profit to shareholders, they can return monies to the cities and counties who deposit money in the banks. These banks can fund climate change mitigation projects and climate change infrastructure management. They can make affordable housing truly affordable. They can work with community banks and credit unions to promote local small businesses. Whether we look at Germany’s Sparkassen network of municipal public banks -- a major driver of Germany’s green economy -- or the Bank of North Dakota, which returns 18% per year to its state -- and dodged the entire foreclosure crisis -- we can see the ways that public banks can transform our economy. The future is here- and California is leading the way for the rest of the nation."

Instead of MORE, what if we built this game around the goal of BETTER?

"It's as if we're getting better and better at playing the wrong game..."

Today at the Northwest Regional Library at Coddingtown!

"Almost unnoticed, in the niches and hollows of the market system, whole swaths of economic life are beginning to move to a different rhythm. Parallel currencies, time banks, cooperatives and self-managed spaces have proliferated, barely noticed by the economics profession, and often as a direct result of the shattering of the old structures in the post-2008 crisis."