1. Local Independent Enterprise. Healthy locally‐owned enterprises help ensure that economic power resides locally. Non‐chain businesses circulate greater wealth within our communities and have a greater stake in keeping them vibrant and healthy.

2. Pursuit of Sustainability. We seek more renewable, ecological and socially‐responsible practices in our business community and among our fellow citizens.

It also seems to us that people are increasingly seeking a "sense of place," a closeness to the unique characteristics and history of our communities. People increasingly equate this "sense of place" with their quality of life for themselves and their families.

We are about creating and strengthening our connections: to our communities, to our local businesses, to our unique cultures, to the earth, and, most importantly, to one another.

Our members understand that the responsibility for our communities’ health and happiness is our own, that every citizen should have a part to play, and that this responsibility cannot be reliably outsourced to institutions outside our community, be they public or private entities, governments or corporations.

Our member businesses are all locally‐owned and independent, and they have all committed to be on a path of sustainability. For some member firms, sustainability is a core part of their business strategy and practices. For other member firms, sustainability is a new concept, just beginning to play a role in their thinking.

SIBA’s role is to help our members move further down the path of sustainability. SIBA also educates the public on its importance to our economy and communities. We promote sustainable practices, products and services in the marketplace and show that sustainable attributes have value to consumers.

Sustainability can mean different things to different people. In our view sustainability is expressed by the "three Es": Environment, Economy, and Equity. We are guided by these core principles.

1. Environment. We understand that the vitality of our economy, indeed the viability of human existence, is inextricably linked to the long‐term health of the global ecosystem. For human enterprise to avoid serious harm to the earth and, in effect, to ourselves, we must have a deep understanding of how human actions affect living ecosystems and integrate ecologically sound practices into our economic behavior.
2. Economy. We recognize the importance of a strong economy that creates secure, long‐term employment for every person who wants a job, without jeopardizing the health of natural ecosystems upon which we depend. We are keenly aware that several different sources of wealth are important and mutually reinforcing: financial capital, manufactured capital, human capital, and natural capital.
3. Equity. We acknowledge that the well‐being of the individual and health of the community are fundamentally linked. Our success, even survival, as individuals and as a community depends on a sense of social cohesion, compassion, cooperation, and tolerance. A just and equitable allocation of resources – in food, water, energy, housing, health care, education, job training, and employment opportunities – is not simply an ethical matter but an essential precondition of the long‐term well‐being of our communities.

What We Do

SIBA pursues these goals and builds healthy community connections through various activities:

1. As a primary focus, we foster public awareness and education about the benefits of"thinking local first," sustainable practices and resource conservation in areas such as Independent Retail, Healthy Food, Local Agriculture, Green Construction, Renewable Energy, Alternative Transportation and Zero‐waste Manufacturing.
2. We serve as a resource network for community groups, government entities, newsmedia, and businesses on localization and sustainability initiatives in the public and private sectors.
3. Through advertising, publicity, events, information booths, workshops, developmentseminars etc. we foster awareness and education among community members not only as consumers but as citizens. Through promotions, social media, and online tools, we encourage new and deeper connections among our member businesses, supporters, community members, community leaders and consumers.

Although SIBA is an independent association, we place ourselves in the context of a larger movement to create local living economies throughout the nation and the world. We draw inspiration from our own experience as business people and from national organizations such as Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and the American Independent Business Alliances (AMIBA). Currently SIBA is affiliated with BALLE as a member network.

SIBA’s Vision

1. We seek a prosperous, sustainable and just economy in our region and the world.
   
2. We seek a living economy that enhances community life and citizenship, deepens the connections of community members to each other, promotes social fairness along with economic vitality, supports cultural diversity, engenders a spirit of kinship with the environment, and increases the health of natural systems.
   
3. We seek a business community, public sector, and civil society that are actively engaged in a robust range of localization and sustainability initiatives (for example: sustainable supply chains, green building, public transportation, walk‐able neighborhoods, sustainable community planning and development, development of community capital, and so on.)
   
4. We seek world in which the economy serves the vast majority of people, both now and into a future measured not by quarters but by years and decades.
   

…To create a prosperous, sustainable and just economy in the Tampa Bay area by strengthening local independently‐owned businesses that seek to create healthier, more interconnected communities, that show leadership in sustainability, and that serve the needs of customers, employees, our community, and the earth.