Project: Community Investment Corporation (CIC)
This is the big one-- it is supposed to be responsible for providing the infrastructure to enable CIC members to flourish, whether on land, in the ocean or on space. Because it exists for the benefits of its members, by definition it cannot be tax exempt.
Obviously, this is a monumental undertaking-- if this were the game Civilization, I would consider it to be the penultimate wonder. But it's not a matter of collecting the resources and then instructing your city center to build the thing. It's not a physical structure, and the bricks that make it up are component systems and processes and institutions, put in place one by one.
The primary goal of the CIC is to invest. It is an investment corporation. This means it needs three big things: Something to invest with, something to invest in, and someone to connect the two in meaningful ways.
Phase Zero: LUF Investment Club[]
Advice from several brokers have given us a goal of 6 figures, or $100,000, as a minimum target amount needed to make a corporate form viable and worth the effort. Setting that figure as a goal, the first step, before any of the others, would seem to be the creation of an LUF Investment Club, where we share information and strategies among ourselves to boost our own investment gains, both in terms of value and revenue, in order to increase the chances that a combination of well funded investors from within our membership could put that amount on the table sometime over the next few years so we can get started with the next project we choose to begin.
A discussion list has been created for the purpose of the club, with a disclaimer explaining the aims and goals of the group. If you are interested, please let us know.
Phase One: LUF Community Economic Development Committee[]
Needed Infrastructure: Nothing new
Needed funds: $1000
Needed people: 3-5
Structure: Either a Committee established by the LUF Board of Directors or a stand-alone organization controlled via stock majority ownership by the LUF.
The LUF Community Economic Development Committee will serve as an entity of the LUF, served by volunteers from the LUF Core membership. This Committee will work to do several things:
- Secure sources of seed money,
- Solicit proposals for business concepts from the LUF community to fund,
- Vet business proposals and plans, and
- Provide oversight over businesses established within the community.
The Community Economic Development Committee will develop terms of financial commitments acceptable to both the LUF Executive Director and the Board President as well as business owners. The Community Economic Development Committee members would serve under the discretion of the LUF Board of Directors. It would be a part of the LUF and would not be able to enter into contracts or pay out funds on its own.
When this Committee is established, the LUF will be granted profit-sharing in all funded activities. Funding from outside sources would be prohibited. The LUF Community Economic Development Committee would eventually be folded into a functional CIC.
All participants in this would be signatories to a multi-party Non-Disclosure Agreement and heavily encouraged to help one another in developing ideas. Non-entrepreneurial individuals with specific skills would also be encouraged to participate in this community under conditions of the NDA. An example of such an NDA can be found in the Dropbox.
Phase One: LUF Investments[]
Needed Infrastructure: official membership approval for non-dues-paying members
Needed funds: $500 + incorporation fees
Needed people: 3-5
Structure: Stand-alone organization, stock-issuing private corporation with stock ownership confined to LUF members.
LUF Investments, also known as "GreenStar Securities" in TMP2, would be responsible for investing money raised from LUF members and entities. Although it would be highly desireable for direct broker participation in LUF Investments, for now LUF Investments would be responsible for finding brokers to work with or directly investing money raised from LUF members. A small % of returns would be sent through dividends to shareholders annually.
While the LUF Community Economic Development Committee would be responsible for investing in internal growth to further Foundation, Aquarius and beyond, LUF Investments will focus on external investments.