Heres what Id like to cover with you today. I’ll talk about a few of my major program areas, focusing on community economic development and a major teaching event- response to flooding disasters. I’ve planned for about an hour presentation but I’m open to questions so feel free to jump in if you’d like clarification or if you have questions about anything.
My position was new when I was hired in 2007 ( it had been 25 years since the last CNRED educator was in Crawford County). Two major areas of programming identified in the 2007 needs assessment in scoping the position. This also left a lot of room for me to create the position to make the most of my skills and interests. Throughout the past 3 years I have continually modified my program based on input from stakeholders and partners. This year I am planning another needs assessment, focused more specifically on economic development to better scope my role in conjunction with the development of a new county economic development corporation.
CED as the overarching umbrella for my programs…
I have used logic models to help structure my programs
All of you are probably familiar with Crawford County- our situation was not unlike other rural counties in the state: Overall there were very few existing organizations or professionals working in Crawford County Economic development preparedness Entrepreneurship & small business development Tourism Community philanthropy
There are many ways to approach community / economic development – In traditional economic development thinking and practice, the focus in on markets (what do we import and export), space, and resources (like workforce, capital, infrastructure etc). This leads to traditional economic development practice –the smokestack chasing mentality. Glen Puvler and Ron Schaffer, whom you are probably familiar with, suggested that we should also consider the norms, and values decision making capacity, and rules (human made or otherwise) that affect economies. This model accounts for community assets- an
Ec Dev preparedness is one aspect of my ec dev programming- this includes community education about what economic development is and how specific economic development issues impact peoples lives. This happens through my newsletter and through bi-monthly snapshots- migration patters, laborshed, internet access, changing ag economy,
Facilitated Tourism Assessment (2008) with over 50 stakeholders from tourism organizations throughouit the county. We set goals for tourism development- one key priority was education
The educational goal of the assessment was relaized through this presentation…Communicate the impact of tourism: “Making the Most of Our Great Places” teaching materials I also: Evaluate the impact of tourism- festival surveys First Impressions visits and reports Prairie du Chien & Ferryville Tourism Council Education Committee
The Inventors and Entrepreneurs Clubs were formed in Wisconsin to help create a culture of that is more supportive to entrepreneurship and business development. Despite the name, these clubs are really about creating a culture that makes it ok for businesses, wherever, they are in their development, to take the next step – so its not always about new business development. The hope is that folks who have or have had businesses will participate as well and offer guidance to others. Business education Peer education Peer support
There are now about 40 clbs throughout Wisconsin- I co facilitate two of these- one based in Viroqua and one in Prairie du Chien. The structure of the meetings is generally the same- we host a speaker on a specific toipic each month- ( Chick Sara pictured on left). We also provide tables of resources, upcoming SBDC classes, workshops, financing information from alternative lenders, business counseling etc. Our hope is that this information will help buesiness owners and inventors learn about the right steps to take in starting a business or bringing a product to market. Supporting each other means opportunities to share information. This can be anything from where to get business cards printed, to how to start marketing online. On the right is our local business counselor Mariyln Huckenpoehler from Couleecap. Resource providers are an important part of the clubs network as well. These include bankers, business counselors, prototype people (tool and dye, design work like CAD or electronics), financial and accounting folks, lawyers, marketing and sales people. Often club members have experience in these fields and offer to help!
Crawford County is currently served by 2 business counselors, both part time, each of which have multiple counties. I serve as a first stop for many businesses providing basic information and making referrals to appropriate resources. This is a piece that I developed specifically for value added food and agricultural businesses. In an I&E club survey I conducted last fall we found that 39% of attendees were in agriculture related business and 32% in food and beverage. This Combined with growing interest for incubator kitchen spurred the development of these materials. They are being used in Gays Mills and beyond at I&E clubs.
Community philanthropy I another area of community economic development that emerged after I attended a Growing Community wealth summit in 2008 that highlighted the possibility for transfer of wealth to benefit Crawford County (specifically that there could be over 10 million dollars available to us over the next decade if we could capture just 5% of total TOW). Working with the county board chairman I hosted educational meetings and published press releases about community philanthropy. This led to…
I continue to work as an ex-officio member of the community fund board. The fund now has a $69,000 endowment and $2000 special projects fund Goals identified at the strategic planning session were EDUCATION – of the board and the community- defining economic development and strategies GROW OUR FINANCIAL CAPACITY- increase grant funding, fundraising, develop and implement a fundraising strategy BETTER UNDERSTAND OUR NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES- including the economics of Crawford County GROW BOARD CAPACITY- broad based, develop committee structure PR- OUTREACH
In 2007 and 2008 the community of was struck by two devastating flooding events and was largely unprepared for the long recovery and planning process that would follow. In the first flood alone 50 homes in the Village, 17% of all housing units, were substantially damaged. FEMA documented $4.8 million in damage to households and $3.6 million to public roads and bridges throughout the county[1]. [1] Federal Emergency Management Agency My role was not immediately clear..I stepped in as the need arose. There was no one directing the recovery process. Messy!!
Reference success story
Following the first flood in 2007, Crawford County Community Development Educator Laura Brown worked collaboratively with the SBDC and government agencies to address business needs through economic impact assessments, surveying business owners about unmet needs, and coordinating with local business counselors to make businesses aware of essential emergency resources. When the second flood occurred less than nine months later, business owners expressed frustration at the lack of interest and response to their needs by federal agencies as well as feelings of exclusion of local planning efforts . In 2008 FEMA hired a planning team to initiate an intensive three month planning effort to explore concrete options for mitigating flooding or relocating the village. To facilitate input from business owners for the flood recovery plan Brown coordinated with the Gays Mills Economic Development Association (GMEDA) and SBDC Counselor to facilitate a business focus group and one-on-one counseling. The focus group revealed that residents and business owners were interested in learning more about other effective examples of flood recovery and community economic development. Brown coordinated with FEMA planners to facilitate a day long Economic Development and Flood Recovery Tour to Mineral Point and Darlington highlighting topics of particular interest to village residents including: historic preservation, downtown revitalization, flood mitigation, arts and tourism promotion. Brown, L. (2007). “The Economic Impact of August 19, 2007 Flood on the Crawford County Economy.” Brown, L. (2007). “Information for Businesses and Farms Affected by Flooding.” Brown, L. and G. Smith. (2008). “A Survey of Downtown Businesses in Gays Mills, Wisconsin.” Published in partnership with the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center.
To facilitate input from business owners for the flood recovery plan Brown coordinated with the Gays Mills Economic Development Association (GMEDA) and SBDC Counselor to facilitate a business focus group and one-on-one counseling. The focus group revealed that residents and business owners were interested in learning more about other effective examples of flood recovery and community economic development. Brown coordinated with FEMA planners to facilitate a day long Economic Development and Flood Recovery Tour to Mineral Point and Darlington highlighting topics of particular interest to village residents including: historic preservation, downtown revitalization, flood mitigation, arts and tourism promotion. Brown, L. (2007). “The Economic Impact of August 19, 2007 Flood on the Crawford County Economy.” Brown, L. (2007). “Information for Businesses and Farms Affected by Flooding.” Brown, L. and G. Smith. (2008). “A Survey of Downtown Businesses in Gays Mills, Wisconsin.” Published in partnership with the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center.
Brown, L. (2007). “ Rebuilding Our Foundations: After the Flood.” First of a ten part series published in the Crawford County Courier Press in Conjunction with the Building Communities Wisline Education Series. “ Flood Recovery and Economic Revitalization Tour” flyer and article “ Trip Opens Eyes to Recovery Effort. ” Crawford County Courier Press, October 2008. Brown, L. (2008). “ With Growing Hope: A Study of the August 2007 Kickapoo Flood in the Village of Gays Mills: Finding Hope in Disaster.” Center for Land Use Education Land Use Tracker, Spring 2008.
Village of Gays Mills community survey and survey results report. Brown, L. (2009). “Crawford Vernon Area Incubator Kitchen Survey Results.”
Extent to which materials developed are valued and used by colleagues and stakeholders
Extent to which materials developed are valued and used by colleagues and stakeholders
Extent to which materials developed are valued and used by colleagues and stakeholders
Extent to which materials developed are valued and used by colleagues and stakeholders
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