Posts Tagged ‘Economic Development’

Building Community with Corned Beef Sandwiches

May 19th, 2010

The highlight of the Grassroots and Groundwork 2010 Conference for me, last week, was Paul Saginaw’s keynote speech.  Paul is co-owner and founding partner of Zingerman’s Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Paul’s speech left me inspired in a number of ways, but one specific piece of advice he gave is still ringing.  He described that as a new business owner, he made community a priority.  He knew he was going to give back from the start, and he has accomplished that in more ways than one. 

It takes money, honey

In the company’s spreadsheet, alongside salaries and wages, benefits, utilities, insurance and a host of other operating expenses was the term “community.”  Money allocated to this line item was used to strengthen community in greater Ann Arbor Michigan along with helping staff when they faced difficulties. Many businesses owners look to give back after they achieve a level of prosperity.  What’s special is that Paul and co-owner Ari Weinzweig built this financial contribution into their business from the start.

Community and opportunity for employees

Paul described that he and Ari’s business mantra from the start wouldn’t allow for reproductions of Zingerman’s Delicatessen.  But, after ten years of successful operation, they realized that expanding the business was necessary so that growth opportunities existed for staff.  They did this by making their staff partners in an expanding business, dubbed Zingerman’s Community of Businesses.  The Zingerman name now includes a total of nine companies with 590 employees and fifteen partners, including a bakehouse, creamery and candy shop. 

Feeding their community

Not many for-profit businesses can say they’ve started a nonprofit, but Zingerman’s can.  In 1988, the company’s philanthropy founded Food Gatherers, a nonprofit that redistributes food from restaurants to those who need it most.  Today, Food Gatherers redistributes more than seven tons of food a day and feeds almost 44,000 people each year. 

 

There are more, but I’ll stop at three.  We often believe that building “community” is the responsibility of nonprofits, economic development groups, and government entities.  Paul Saginaw and Zingerman’s Community of Businesses proves that businesses can contribute to community in powerful ways, if they’re willing to take the challenge. 

 

Photo credit:  Ashley Dinges-Flickr

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development | Comments (0)

Has your rural community settled into compliance?

March 5th, 2010

Seth Godin wrote an interesting post last week that I’ve been mulling over since I read it.  His post, titled “It’s easier to teach compliance than initiative,” highlights how schools have perpetuated compliance (instead of initiative) because it is easier to teach and easier to test for.  In other words, compliance is the easy way out.

I think the same is true for our rural communities.  Many of our small towns have laxidasically watched as economies have faltered, people have moved, and Main Streets have emptied.  That’s what the road of compliance looks like. 

My analogy of how this plays out in rural communities looks something like this:

Small town economies are like a large boulder rolling down a hill.  It doesn’t take anyone’s time or effort for the boulder to continue rolling down the hill.  But, if you recognize that rolling down the hill isn’t the right path for the boulder and you want to change its course, it takes a ton of effort.  First, you have to stop the boulder.  Then, you have to push the boulder up the hill.  It takes time, effort, strategy, people. And initiative. 

The goal of initiative is changing the momentum; whether it’s a boulder rolling down a hill or changing the economy of your community.  Compliance, or looking the other way, is the easy path, but it is probably not the path of success.

So, what path do you choose: the path of compliance or the path of initiative?  As Godin points out, today’s economy rewards those with initiative. 

Photo Credit:  Rita Willaert, Flickr

Tags: ,
Posted in Community Development, Economic Development, Rural | Comments (1)

Why start a business in a rural community?

April 10th, 2009

What are the advantages and disadvantages of starting a business in rural communities?  Although it focuses on “small to midsized cities”, a recent article in Business Weekly offers a glimpse into the realities of starting a business in a non-urban setting. It concludes there are some real advantages that companies should consider including:

Unfortunately, the analysis only focuses on small to midsized cities — and not the rural communities with populations of under 5000 that are so common in our part of the country.  That said, I’m not sure if there’s much difference.

Back when I worked as an economic development director, we extolled those same factors to entrepreneurs looking to start-up their ventures in Howard, SD, and we used local data to support our argument.  But beyond this local data I haven’t seen any research to back up those claims. 

Wouldn’t it be helpful to read some qualitative and quantitative analysis that rural communities could use to help them make their case.  In lieu of this research, I’d be very interested in hearing what others have experienced in their rural communities. 

Photo:  This photo taken in the industrial park in Howard, SD shows what entrepreneurship can mean to a small rural community.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Economic Development, Rural | Comments (1)

Rural enterpreneuers selected for Dakota Rising

December 26th, 2008

Sixteen entrepreneurs frorural South Dakota have been selected as finalists for fellowships from the  Dakota Rising Entrepreneurship program. Those entrepreneurs representing the four Dakota Rising regions include:

Glacial Lakes Dakota Rising region (comprised of Day, Marshall and Roberts counties with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Lake Traverse Reservation)
• Kory Anderson, Anderson Industries LLC
• Calvin and Rebecca Pies, Cal’s Repair
• Elizabeth Whitlow, Dakota Machine Works
• Mark Stein, Esco Manufacturing
• Cyndy Grandpre, Flowers and Fudge on Main
• Paul Haugen, Powder Tech Corp
• Kristin Bennet, Yes, LLC

57735 On The Rise region (representing the Edgemont zip code area)
• Ann Cassens of the Cassens Companies, Inc.

Spearfish Dakota Rising Region
• Lisa Irion, Black Hills Honey Farm
• Chris Malo, Black Hills Urethane Company LLC
• Mitchell McKie, Dan Diego Tortilla Factory
• Donald Lamb, Lamb Painting
• and James Meyer, Quarq Technology, Inc.

Four Mo T.R.E.E. region (covering Campbell, Walworth, Dewey, Corson and Ziebach counties in addition to the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations)
• Garrett TenBroek, Bark Ranch
• Gerald Davidson, Jr., D&D Plumbing and Heating
• Tobey Vander Laan, Wild Dutchman Seeds

In January 2009, eight fellowships will be selected from these finalists, providing the entrepreneurs with $10,000 for professional and business assistance. Fellows will also receive additional assistance from a business coach, a peer advisory board, and industry-specific technical assistance.

Communities should check out this program whose purpose it to spur entrepreneurship through the development of local entrepreneurial support teams. If your community’s team is selected, an entrepreneur in your community may become one of next year’s fellows.”

Dakota Rising is administered by SD Rural Enterprise in partnership with SDSU Cooperative Extension, SD Governor’s Office of Economic Development, SD Small Business Development Centers, Northeast Council of Governments, East River Electric Power Cooperative and the REED Fund, Rural Learning Center, Oweesta, SD Office of EQUIP and the Enterprise Institute. Dakota Rising was developed through the generous support of the Northwest Area Foundation and Citi Foundation.

For more information, contact SD Rural Enterprise at 605-987-2804 or e-mail info@sdrei.org. Dakota Rising information is also available on the Rural Enterprise website, www.sdrei.org.

Additional information includes:
• Program Overview
• Glacial Lakes Dakota Rising
• Marshall County Journal story on finalists

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)

Bernie on the Blind School

November 26th, 2008

Bernie Hunhoff, editor of South Dakota Magazine, captures the essence of Joe Kolbach’s bold vision for turning the former South Dakota School for the Blind campus in Gary, SD into a community revitalization project. 

The Gary community has been saddle for years with this incredible asset that has deteriorated to the point of being a community detriment.  Way too often, some of the best physical assets in our small towns (i.e. – old school and bank buildings) have been purchased by individuals – often with good intentions — who end up neglecting the property.  Un-mowed lawns lead to broken windows, lead to graffiti…, you get the picture.  (And if you don’t, take a closer look at the picture to the left.)

But is the preservation of historic buildings really a path to community prosperity? I emphatically say “yes” as I’ve experienced it first-hand.  Back in the mid-1990′s, I helped a start-up tourism venture in Beaufort, South Carolina, a once sleepy, depressed community located half-way between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. 

There the focal point was antebellum, plantation-style homes that were being restored to their original splendor.  Visitors flocked to see the see the magnificence of the restored mansions and hear the history of an era gone by.  Along the way, they left their dollars at main street businesses.

Equally important is the role the restored mansions played in changing the community’s brand.  In marketing terms, a community’s brand is what others say and think about you.  Ask anyone about Beaufort’s image during the 1960s and 1970s, and they’d tell you it was a community without a future.  The restored homes helped change that image.

It’s too early to say what impact the former School for the Blind will have on Gary and surrounding Deuel County.   But what’s important is that communities attempt to regain control over these assets and incorporate them into the community’s vision for the future.   

Update:  The transformation of the former blind school into the Buffalo Ridge Resort and Business Center is not complete.  Check this post for further info and pictures.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Economic Development, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)

Do downtown events = dollars downtown

November 21st, 2008

Absolutely!  That’s my emphatic response to the question posed above by John Delconte of the Smallwander.com network.  John hopes to explore the question of downtown promotions in rural communities in a upcoming teleseminar and is inviting you to join the conversation.  I’ve never met John in person, but I’ve followed his blog for awhile, and we’ve recently started talking about some common interests.  Check out the information below about the teleconference. 

Smallwander.com is hosting it’s monthly teleconference this upcoming Monday, Nov 24, from 10 to 11 am. The topic is “Do downtown promotions = dollars downtown?

I particularly would like to explore why Hillsborough NC’s recent “Ladies Night Out” promotion was successful. On a rainy Thursday night, hordes of women descended on the town and bought like crazy in the shops.

Panelists will include Amy Wilmoth, a freelance marketing consultant for small businesses in the Triangle area of NorthCarolina, Elizabeth Read, Executive Director of the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough, Eddie Ide, President of Newton Merchants, Inc. of Newton North Carolina, and Greta Lint, tourism consultant.

If you have similar stories about how special events translate to dollars in the shops, please think about them beforehand and share them with us. We will be inviting town representatives in our smallwander network.

People will be able to either call in via telephone or listen in over the web. They can also type questions to us. The call will be recorded and eventually posted on our site as a podcast.

Smallwander.com hosts a free teleseminar/webinaron the last Monday of every month, from 10 to 11 am.  Topics relate to small town tourism and economic development.

Click on the link below to check out the web page and get the phone dial-in info.

EVENT: Do downtown promotions = dollars downtown?
DATE & TIME: Monday, November 24th at 10:00am Eastern
FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via Phone or Webcast — it’s your choice)
TO ATTEND THIS EVENT, CLICK THIS LINK NOW… http://instantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=5098998

You can learn more about the Smallwandernetwork at their website and blog. 

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Community Development, In the News, Rural, Training and Events | Comments (0)