Amazon has quietly positioned itself at the center of a growing share of our daily transactions. Today, two-thirds of all U.S. households are subscribed to the membership program Amazon Prime, more than half of all online shopping searches start directly on Amazon, and Amazon captures nearly one in every two dollars that Americans spend online, and that’s only growing.

Yet for all of its reach, Amazon remains remarkably invisible. That’s especially true here in Vermont, where Amazon has no facilities, but nonetheless is exerting an increasingly powerful pull on the state’s economy.

On Nov. 13th, Stacy Mitchell and Olivia LaVecchia of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance will discuss the findings of their in-depth study of Amazon and what the company’s growing dominance means for Vermont’s small businesses, jobs, and communities. As part of the discussion, they’ll talk about how policymakers can address Amazon’s market power and impacts, and what citizens can do to support a more diverse, equitable, and locally rooted economy, even when they’re shopping online. We are excited that the evening will be moderated by Vermont’s own Fran Stoddard.

Since publishing their report, Amazon’s Stranglehold: How the Company’s Tightening Grip on the Economy Is Stifling Competition, Eroding Jobs, and Threatening Communities, in late 2016, Mitchell and LaVecchia have become go-to sources for journalists writing about Amazon. Their research has been cited in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Atlantic, and Fast Company, among others, and they’ve been interviewed on NPR, CNBC, and other broadcast outlets.

This event is FREE, just reserve your seat by RSVPing through our ticket link.

If you’re unable to make Monday night, you can catch Stacy and Olivia in Manchester on Tuesday.

BIOS:

Stacy Mitchell is co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), which produces research and analysis, and partners with a range of allies to design and implement policies that curb economic consolidation and strengthen community-rooted enterprise. She is the author of Big-Box Swindle and has produced several influential reports, including Monopoly Power and the Decline of Small Business. Stacy has served as an advisor to many community groups and policymakers.

Olivia LaVecchia is a research associate with ILSR’s Community-Scaled Economy Initiative, where her work focuses on building awareness and support for public policy tools that strengthen locally owned businesses and that check concentrated economic power. She was the lead author of ILSR’s report on Affordable Space: How Rising Commercial Rents Are Threatening Independent Businesses, and What Cities Are Doing About It.

Stacy and Olivia are both based in ILSR’s Portland, Maine, office.