Based on Ted Howard's remarks to the recent Alternative Models of Ownership conference, the Democracy Collaborative has distilled the eight basic principles behind community wealth building—a transformative approach to local economic development—into this handy one page guide.

For years now, politicians have been promising to give away power. There has been growing acceptance that the scale and complexity of our social challenges are so great that the centre cannot hope to address them on their own.

A global energy war is underway. It is man versus nature, fossil fuel versus clean energy, the haves versus the have-nots, and, fundamentally, an extractive economy versus a regenerative economy.

This handbook is the second in a series that aims to spur local investment in all 50 states. The goal is to provide readers with case studies and information relevant for their state.