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The American Independent Business Alliance helps organizers start and sustain an Independent Business AllianceSM (IBA). AMIBA is a charitable organization, organized under section 501c3 of the IRS code. View our IRS determination letter. (click on the image to zoom and print)
AMIBA...
- provides IBAs with resources, templates, how-to's, advice and information to get started and grow
- keeps IBAs abreast of important news, research and resources to inform local campaigns and outreach
- networks IBAs to help them share ideas, problem solve and succeed
- stages presentations and writes to a national audience about the vital work of IBAs and the important issues at play
- coordinates IBAs and others in two annual national campaigns, Independents Week (July 1-7) and America Unchained! (the Saturday before Thanksgiving)
AMIBA History
In 1997, two members of the Boulder, Colorado community—one a local independent bookstore owner, the other an activist and organizer—recognized the multi-faceted threat to communities posed by absentee-owned national and global chains evidenced, in part, by the displacement of locally-owned independent businesses to them. They put their heads together to devise a concrete, proactive means for helping the community preserve its character and ability to help its inhabitants. The first Independent Business Alliance was born.The initial sell was tough; being the first of its kind, the idea was untested. Once several of the community's landmark businesses were aboard, attracting others became easier. After two years the Boulder IBA had a coalition of 150 community-based businesses and had succeeded in creating a culture of support for community-based business through public education, collaborative efforts among the coalition, and inserting itself into local policy discussion. Being local had become hip. Non-IBA affiliated businesses and even franchises began using "local" as a marketing tool. The local corporate-owned daily newspaper touted a local business advertising page and routinely provided a local business perspective in its staff-generated articles. Conversation on the street regarding "local" v. "chains" were overheard commonly, and discussion in the letters-to-the-editor section of the newspaper became frequent.
After receiving over 120 inquiries about the IBA model from communities nationwide within the first three years, the directors determined the time had come to launch AMIBA to address the interest. The directors of that first IBA continue to direct AMIBA, dispensing advice from their own experience and knowledge gained from helping many other IBAs launch and achieve effectiveness.
IBA organizers now are launching local efforts quickly with the help of a proven, highly successful model for creating local change, AMIBA support, and connections with IBAs nationwide. Click HERE to find out more about the IBA model.