www.BrightNeighbor.com
Randy White is a longtime Tom Dwyer client. He used to work with the folks at AM620 KPOJ, but left the radio business to start Bright Neighbor. Randy believes in helping the planet achieve sustainable balance with the human population, and his company is dedicated to helping build local community food, trade, and transportation systems.
“When the Soviet Union collapsed, Russians started their own kitchen and neighborhood gardens which, although accounting for only 10% of the agricultural land, were estimated to eventually produce a staggering 90% of the country’s agricultural products,” said White. “If we are collapsing here in the US, we can achieve even better results by combining the internet and community cooperation. That’s what Bright Neighbor does.”
Community members in Portland can join the system at www.brightneighbor.com, fill out a profile, and be connected to neighbors and other Portlanders that match their interests. All of Portland can contribute to or benefit from the community “Swap and Share”, which helps match people with just about anything offered locally. “For instance,” said Randy, “how many people need to actually own their own personal drill? Why not share resources with each other? And we can share everything from cooperative urban farming to ride sharing with people we like. It’s really simple.”
Bright Neighbor will be in the beta testing phase for just a little longer, so it is by invitation only right now. The official launch is on November 13th, when unlimited numbers of Portlanders can join. You can have a little taste of it in the meantime by using it to get a ride to the Tom Dwyer Election Night Bash, an event enthusiastically co-sponsored by Bright Neighbor. “Free Greek food, a bar, and politics? I wanted to be part of that as soon as I heard about it!” said Randy. We hope you’ll log on to BrightNeighbor.com to see what Randy’s been working on, and to share his enthusiasm for our Portland communities.
