Building The Local Online Utility:
SocialChord’s online infrastructure is a new utility for the public. Just as every town has an electric or water company, every town will have an online utility to facilitate its public dialog and interconnect its local economy, institutions and efficient government experience with the citizen/consumer.

Accelerating Local Dialog Online:
Citizens, journalists, businesses, schools, non-profits, governments and other community-based institutions are optimized on SocialChord through a network of comprehensive online profiles. The SocialChord platform combines online social networking, video broadcasting, group forums, directories and multimedia content tools to construct local community intranets on a broader global network. The platform is designed to easily integrate with 3rd party web services that empower users and groups to manage the content and relationships that matter most to them, from across the Internet.

SocialChord provides the backbone; the community makes it their own.
Social Chord Community Utilities

Evolving Local Commerce + Merchant/Small Business Online:
A growing local online community creates additional commerce to any small businesses, local merchants and community-based non-profits who sell their products and services, request donations and create sponsorship strategies inside of this online platform.

With deeper integration of the local economy and local consumer online, the cycles of consumer spending will increasingly flow to existing local businesses, and will activate creative entrepreneurs with opportunities to recycle the old and develop new, awaiting economies.

The SocialChord platform has been utilized as a place to start a business, grow an existing business and provide on-ramps for creative entrepreneurs to enhance profiles with design, shoot video/photography or create additional website or technical work for their companies.

YouthChord - Connecting the Digital Millennial Generation + Merchant/Small Businesses:
The key to building local online communities is bringing local entities and citizens online to participate and develop ongoing content that keeps the online experience in sync with the ‘live’ events of the community.

The Digital Millennial generation (born 1980-2000) is our untapped resource in helping local communities thrive, not just survive, during this Recession. SocialChord partners with secondary and higher education institutions to bring the energy, creativity and technical prowess of students to the aid of the community in getting online and profiled. We also give back by showcasing the talent of our teenagers and young adults that have tremendous skill to take U.S. small businesses to the next level of evolution with their insights and energy.

With 21.6% national unemployment for teenagers, we have the formula to create 21st century jobs and 21st century business owners. SocialChord’s YouthChord program engages students to bring their community online. This includes setting up and maintaining the online community, building profiles, training and interviewing seniors, creating multimedia content for merchants, small businesses, and community non-profits and helping them market their value proposition to the community via the local online network and their web 2.0 savvy.

YouthChord offers students an applied learning experience, while helping small businesses and community organizations get online at extremely low costs. Additionally, when a teenager works with a local business, they will tell their family and friends about their experience and emphasize the merchant or small business’ value proposition. YouthChord facilitates both live and online word-of-mouth marketing throughout the community, keeping more consumer dollars in the local economy.

Promoting Social Entrepreneurs = SocialChord Operating L3Cs = Local Job Creation:
The only way for local online communities to succeed is if the online community is owned and operated by the citizens that want it, create it and support it. The days of the top-down media companies are numbered. SocialChord creates local operating companies for its local online communities that create jobs and distribute ownership within the community.

These operating companies will leverage the new social venture structure, L3C (low profit limited liability corporation). Through the L3C we create opportunity for local private and public investors to gain ownership in their local utility. With the ability to fundraise from both private and public sources, L3Cs do not face the same pressures to report earnings to Wall Street. The 20th Century was transformed by the LLC. The 21st Century will be transformed by the L3C.

With the addition of distributed voting privileges within the site’s membership over change of ownership and other major decisions, SocialChord ensures that all of its local operating L3Cs and corresponding online communities are securely embedded within the community. A similar local ownership model will be replicated as we expand internationally.

SocialChord L3Cs are designed to financially sustain and become directors of resources towards job creation and other economic opportunities within their communities. SocialChord L3C’s will also deliver expanded economies for companies that port into the experience. Starting at the State, and moving in to County and Municipal levels, SocialChord L3Cs require full and part time staff to deliver services and coordinate with the community.