Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development

Systems Thinking

You Get What You Measure®: A Process to Determine and Measure Progress in Community Development

This CD Practice article describes You Get What You Measure®, a process that integrates participatory planning and systems thinking into the development of strategic measures so that communities can monitor progress toward community development goals.…


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WealthWorks for Building Rural Economies

WealthWorks is an approach bridging community and economic development to build multiple forms of community wealth, resilience, and local ownership. This webinar provides a short overview for newcomers to the approach, followed by a focus on issues…


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WealthWorks for Your Region: An Introduction. Module 3: Construct a WealthWorks Value Chain

This module profiles the elements and design objectives of a WealthWorks value chain—and how to use them to build wealth that lasts.


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WealthWorks for Your Region: An Introduction. Module 2: Identify a Market Opportunity

This module offers a series of useful screens for spotting a market opportunity that has good potential to generate wealth-building results for a region.


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WealthWorks for Your Region: An Introduction. Module 1: Explore Regional Wealth Building

This module defines wealth building as a goal that reaches beyond standard community and economic development objectives, and why that difference is critical to advancing and sustaining regional economies.


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Rural Wealth Creation

This textbook investigates the role of wealth in achieving sustainable rural economic development. Published by Routledge and edited by John L. Pender, Bruce A. Weber, Thomas G. Johnson, and J. Matthew Fannin.


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Emerging Issues for Learning Communities

This paper explores the concept of learning communities and the shifts in concept and practice required to bring them about based on emerging ideas in the physical sciences, leadership training, learning theory, rural development, public work, organizational…


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Innovative Strategies that Support Rural Communities

This presentation on WealthWorks and WealthWorks value chains was made as part of a panel at the National Reinvestment Coalition 2014 Annual Conference.


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Rural Research Report v.24 i.1: Connecting Community Assets with Market Demand for Lasting Livelihoods

This paper, featured in the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs’ Rural Research Report (Spring 2014, Volume 24, Issue 1), provides an overview of the WealthWorks approach and its tools, including the WealthWorks value chain construct and the wealth…


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You Get What You Measure: Public Workshops

Join us for public workshops that provide an introduction to Yellow Wood’s unique approach to strategic planning and measurement, You Get What You Measure®. The approach integrates systems thinking to identify key leverage indicators, and aligns actions…


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Becoming a Measurement Guide: Training Brochure

Twice a year, Yellow Wood Associates, Inc., of St. Albans, VT, offers professionals with facilitation skills the opportunity to learn how to deliver You Get What You Measure®. In development and use for over fifteen years, You Get What You Measure®…


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