[michael shuman]
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Michael Shuman is vice president for Enterprise Development for the Training and Development Corporation (TDC) of Bucksport, Maine. A noted economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Shuman is widely recognized for his research into the economic advantages of small-scale businesses in an era of globalization as well as the often over-looked benefits of building local economies in an era of big-box retail chains. He has authored, coauthored, and edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998).

In recent years Mr. Shuman has overseen a variety of projects, including the design of a small-business, venture-capital fund in New Mexico and the development of CommunityFood.com, a Web site that provides marketing support for small-scale family farmers. He also organized university-government-business collaborations in both St. Lawrence County, New York, and the Katahdin Region of Maine to study opportunities for import replacement.

Mr. Shuman serves as a senior editor for the recently published Encyclopedia of Community. He is a cofounder and active participant in the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and a founder of Bay Friendly Chicken, a community-owned company located in Salisbury, Maryland.

Mr. Shuman received an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. A prolific speaker, Mr. Shuman has averaged a talk a week for the past 20 years, including invited lectures and paid consultancies in eight countries, 26 cities, and at 27 universities.

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