Our new century requires a new commons…a new kind of organization thriving on diversity of views, ethnicities, and approaches…balancing tradition and innovation…making business, the earth, and community, partners we are accountable to.

New Commons is a think, link and do tank. We generate new ideas…we link people with ideas and people to people in new ways…we get things done using fresh methods that fit the situation. Give us a problem and we will muster our forces to solve it. Give us an opportunity and we will mobilize our talent to make it tangible. At New Commons, we focus on creating the next generation of communities, businesses, organizations and networks.

Our clients include changed-minded businesses, communities, states, municipalities, regions, entrepreneurs, not-for-profits, innovators…in effect, anyone who wants to engage in new ideas, new ways to link ideas and people, and new ways of getting results. We work locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.

The call for a new commons is not nostalgia, pulling us back to what was once present in most towns and cities. Rather, it is about creating the next generation of places – many new commons’ – for people to gather to commune and get work done – online and in person. The call today is for an intercultural milieu…not vanilla or exclusion. It is about bringing together, for impact, differences in thinking, disciplines, culture, and ways of working…this is what the new commons is about. ---Robert Leaver, 2008

New Commons operates as a business Cooperative

New Commons is a new kind of entity. New for two reasons:

• First we are a business cooperative because it is the best way to marshal and aggregate he talent required to be a full service organization to our clients and projects.
• Second, the cooperative sturcture serves as a learning laboratory to learn about what works and doesn't about a business cooperative structure so others can learn from our experience.

As a business cooperative, New Commons operaties with three layers of relationships (see below). Each relationship is highly sreened, representing carefully chosen, aligned talent. Borrowing from our colleague and good friend John Abrams, South Mountain Company, we screen and hire for future owners, which is a differnt mindset than hiring employees...or in our case...consultants. At New Commons we don't collect contractors or hire employees. We engage only those whith the mettle to be future owners.

The cooperative structure operates as a family of brands: (Think Mars Candy Company that has multiple brands to sell: Snicker, Three Musketeers and Mars Bars--all seperate but together.)

Owner- Each owner owns one share of New Commons...ownership is how we distribute power.

Member Company - Member companies are not yet owners; they operate their own entities, but operate exclusively as a New Commons Company. Fred Presley, Jeff Deckman, and Larry Quick are our current Member Companies.

Strategic Partners- these partners operate their own entitites and contribute discreet services to projects. Currently, John Speck and Charlie Cannon are such partners.

We are looking for new and proven know-how and people align with the above model. If you want more information please contact us at inquiries(at)newcommons(dot)com