Despite a narrow loss on election day, Dayne has pledged to continue to fight for Flint's future. We all worked so hard and we came so close to victory that we have to stay involved.

Do you have ideas for ways that our network can continue to work for Flint's future? What can we do to improve Flint without having taken control of City Hall? Send your thoughts and comments to votewalling@gmail.com.

U.S. Congressman John Conyers has endorsed Flint Mayoral Candidate Dayne Walling in Tuesday's general election. Congressman Conyers is the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee. 'I'm excited to have the endorsement of both Congressman John Conyers and Congressman Dale Kildee,' said Walling. 'They both have been champions of working people their entire careers and understand the need for strong leadership in our urban areas like Flint."

This weekend Congressman Kildee joined Dayne on the campaign trail to knock on doors, greet voters at the Farmer's Market, visit churches, and co-host an incredible community pancake breakfast at UAW Local 599. The Walling campaign had over 120 volunteers knocking on doors across Flint this weekend. Thanks to everyone that has given their time and energy to make this campaign a success.

Dayne is pleased to have had the help of over 60 SEIU members this weekend. They knocked on doors across the city to remind Walling supporters to get to the polls on Tuesday. Due to their efforts, the campaign was able to knock on over 3,000 doors and share Dayne's vision for Flint with a large number of voters. Thanks SEIU!

Supporting Neighborhood Businesses and Creating New Jobs

Flint’s residents deserve access to basic consumer establishments such as grocery, retail, and service stores. However, in many neighborhoods there is limited access to these types of establishments. Opportunities for residents to spend their money at Flint based neighborhood businesses are even more limited. Flint needs an aggressive strategy to support neighborhood businesses and encourage residents to Buy Flint First when possible.

Open For Business is a part of Dayne Walling’s Road Map to Opportunity and has a three-part strategy to address the issues of limited access to goods and services for many residents and limited opportunity to buy goods and services from Flint based neighborhood businesses. This strategy includes:

STREAMLINE REGULATORY BURDENS
* Review existing regulatory burdens falling on small businesses and eliminate regulations that fail to advance the public interest.

* Improve collaboration among the Fire Inspector, the Building and Safety Inspectors, and the Planning and Zoning Commission to ensure an efficient start-up process and to offer a warning to out of compliance establishments that precedes any penalties.

*Convert time-consuming rezoning procedures into a predictable process governed by flexible zoning regulations.

CREATE A FIRST STOP SHOP
Institute a First Stop Phone Call program, where knowledgeable city employees will be able to answer the questions of people trying to redevelop properties and begin business in the city.
Help new entrepreneurs and woman and people of color owned small businesses better compete for city contracts.

SUPPORT FLINT BASED NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES
Clean neighborhood business corridors and enforce standards for signage and use.
Define “Safe Routes to Shop” to encourage pedestrian and bicycle travel to establishments within a neighborhood.

These three items will help create a better business environment for Flint. However, we need to do more than just create a better business environment to we need to help support and give as much assistance to Flint based neighborhood businesses as we do to national and regional chains located in our downtown. We can do this by establishing a Buy Flint First program.

BUY FLINT FIRST
A Buy Flint First program would be a cooperative effort between local independent business owners, non-profit organizations and individuals in Flint to support local ownership and educate our community about the multiple benefits of using Flint based neighborhood businesses. The Buy Flint First Program would:

1) Support the growth and development of neighborhood-based businesses
2) Encourage local purchasing by consumers and businesses
3) Create opportunities for business leaders to network and share best practices
4) Advocate public policies that strengthen independent local businesses
5) Promote spirit of entrepreneurship
6) Educate the public to the benefits of locally owned businesses

There are several benefits to having a Buy Flint First program including:

INCREASED DOLLARS IN THE LOCAL ECONOMY

One example of the impact that a Buy Flint First program would have in increasing dollars in the local economy is the grocery business. According to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Flint residents spend 60% ($70 million of $118 million) of their grocery dollars outside the city. (http://www.liscnet.org/) Decreasing that percentage to just 50% through a Buy Flint First program would mean a direct impact of nearly $12 million in the local economy. That impact expands to an additional $8.75 million of indirect impact on the local economy based on studies by Civic Economics. (http://www.civicecnomics.com/)

MORE JOB CREATION LOCALLY
Based on just the example above a Buy Flint First program could generate over 100 new jobs locally in the grocery industry alone. Other industries could see similar or better results. This is supported by the Small Business Administration, which says that 60% to 80% of the net new jobs in America over the past 10 years have been created by small business. (www.sba.gov/advo/research/data.html#us)

This job creation by Flint based neighborhood businesses is important because Flint based neighborhood business will more than likely hire workers from the neighborhoods where they are located.

INCREASED OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN AND PEOPLE OF COLOR
Locally based neighborhood businesses offer women and people of color the best opportunity to own their own businesses. These types of business have fewer and less daunting start up impediments for women and people of color such as start up capital, supply chain infrastructure, and market positioning.

Visit the multimedia page to watch all the latest Walling campaign TV ads. In them Dayne discusses his Road Map to Opportunity, getting Flint on the right path, cutting the red tape at City Hall, and the recent endorsement by Congressman Dale Kildee.

Today the Flint Journal's editorial board publicly announced their endorsement of Dayne Walling for Mayor of Flint.

From the endorsement...
"Walling's campaign reflects this philosophy: His idealism and character have attracted a diverse body of supporters impressed by his practical plans for Flint's physical, economic and social renewal -- spearheaded by a high-quality city government."

You can read the entire endorsement here.