Innovators in Rural Community Economic Development
This report documents outcomes by sector of WealthWorks implementation on the ground in Central Appalachia, the South, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley. It also includes lessons learned over the last year and a half of the eight year Wealth Creation…
Yellow Wood in Transition; Update on Our Work; WealthWorks; Presentations; Measurement; Staffing News; Reading & Watching
This final report documents a study conducted by Yellow Wood to identify potential opportunities for sustainable natural resource-based economic development in the Dragon Run watershed. The Special Area Management Plan recognizes that one of the keys…
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.…
This guide is one of two pieces written to assist WealthWorks value chain coordinators or coaches in working with businesses and demand partners that are part of WealthWorks value chains. This guide is designed to walk readers through one of the most…
This guide is one of two pieces written to assist WealthWorks value chain coordinators or coaches in working with businesses and demand partners that are part of WealthWorks value chains. This guide is written to assist WealthWorks coordinators, coaches,…
Vermont’s Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) is engaged in a project to provide a systems analysis of the forestry and wood products industry in Vermont. Yellow Wood Associates is working with the Forestry Subcommittee (composed of both WLEB and…
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…
This module profiles the elements and design objectives of a WealthWorks value chain—and how to use them to build wealth that lasts.
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.
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.
Many rural areas in the United States find themselves struggling to build local assets and create wealth. They often struggle to hold on to the wealth that is created within their boundaries. Conventional approaches to community and economic development…
This paper introduces a wealth creation approach to development, and describes how the Central Appalachian Network has used an outcome-based measurement process to define and measure progress toward shared goals for seven forms of community wealth.…
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.
Rural regions across the United States have struggled to implement economic development strategies that build local assets and create wealth that contributes to sustained prosperity. This article describes a systems framework that enables rural areas…
This document summarizes a community workshop coordinated by the Hinesburg Economic Development Commission. The community workshop brought together community members to identify strategic leverage points to build the foundation of the Economic Development…
This webinar offered participants a preview of the WealthWorks Training for Coaches and Coordinators. Training facilitators shared the approach to the training and the expected outcomes. Participants were able to ask questions and explore how this…
This report explores the economic impacts of invasive species on specific sectors of the Adirondack Park’s economy. This first-of-its-kind assessment for the Adirondacks analyzes actual and potential impacts of eight invasive species, summarizes expenditures…
The report “The Actual and Potential Economic Impact of Invasive Species on the Adirondack Park: A Preliminary Assessment: Executive Summary” explores the economic impacts of invasive species on specific sectors of the Adirondack Park’s economy. This…
This presentation, from the workshop titled Strategic Planning, Measurement and Evaluation Using “You Get What You Measure®,” was presented by Melissa Levy at the 2014 Connecticut Land Conservation Conference.
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…
This draft report is a product of a study supported by the Wallace Center and the National Good Food Network. The study explored how a set of common measures might assist food hubs and the food hub community in telling their stories and improving their…
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work with Goody Clancy and the Town of Mansfield to develop an agricultural strategy for the Town of Mansfield as part of their updated Plan of Conservation and Development.
This presentation on WealthWorks and WealthWorks value chains was made as part of a panel at the National Reinvestment Coalition 2014 Annual Conference.
Attendees learned how food hubs have used You Get What You Measure®, a systems-based analysis to identify their priority measures that will tell them if they are making progress towards their goals. The first part of the session shared examples of…
In an effort to develop a common set of metrics for food hubs to track the contributions they are making at the community level, the Wallace Center partnered with Yellow Wood Associates to research four potential common measures: 1) food access; 2)…
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…
This report, prepared for the Walton Family Foundation, analyzes regional demand for nature based tourism. The report focuses on four types of tourism: Paddling, Culture and Heritage, Non-consumptive and Consumptive Wildlife Activities. In addition…
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work with the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (NESARE) to assess the impact of an outcome funding framework on principal investigators and beneficiaries of projects funded by NESARE.
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work with the West Central Initiative to help small Minnesota communities meet their water-related needs in a cost effective manner while protecting water resource quality.
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work with Suri Paco LLC to assess the feasibility of an alpaca fiber mid-tier value chain to aggregate and process alpaca fiber into a range of value-added products that make use of all grades of fiber produced…
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work with the US Forest Service Wood Education Resource Center to increase the use of sustainable wood energy. Yellow Wood worked with Richmond Energy Associates to provide independent, third party biomas feasibility…
This video describes You Get What You Measure®, Yellow Wood's trademarked approach to strategic planning that incorporates measurement and can be used as a framework for evaluation. The video also shares…
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work for Save Passamaquoddy Bay on an economic and fiscal impact analysis of proposed liquefied natural gas terminals. Save Passamaquoddy Bay (www.savepassamaquoddybay.org)…
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…
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®…
WealthWorks is a 21st-century approach that belongs in every community and economic development toolkit. WealthWorks is inclusive, bringing together and connecting community assets to meet market demand in ways that build lasting livelihoods and upward…
This brochure provides an overview of the WealthWorks Training for Coaches and Coordinators. WealthWorks is a 21st-century approach that belongs in every community and economic development toolkit. WealthWorks is inclusive, bringing together and connecting…
This workbook was shared with participants at a 7-hour training presented by Melissa Levy and Barbara Wyckoff presented on You Get What You Measure at the 2011 Community Involvement Training Conference.
Shanna Ratner's keynote presentation to the 3rd RURAL ISSUES: Community Leadership Conference on April 6, 2011 focused on why agriculture matters to regional economies and what municipal and public officials can do to grow the agricultural sector.
Place-based grantees from three regions (Central Appalachia, the Alabama Black Belt and Mid-South Delta, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas), resource team members, researchers, and Ford Foundation staff met at the Ford Foundation office in New…
An overview of Yellow Wood's work with the West Central Initiative and three Minnesota communities around water systems and water infrastructure. Yellow Wood used the Green Community Technologies© process to assess needs and make recommendations for…
Mary Ellen Keith, Supervisor of the Town of Franklin, and Shanna Ratner, Principal of Yellow Wood Associates narrate this film highlighting the results of Yellow Wood's Green Community Technologies© work with the Town of Franklin.
Shanna Ratner's plenary presentation at the Growing Health 2012 conference in New York addressed the benefits of a fully-realized food system, discussed food systems in context of a wealth creation approach, and engaged participants in exercises around…
This report summarizes an interactive workshop hosted by the Town of Mansfield on the Town’s Agriculture Strategy as part of their Mansfield Tomorrow initiative. Yellow Wood Associates facilitated the workshop in their role as the consultant responsible…
Parks and Beaches: Common Cents for the Common Wealth quantifies the value of the park system as an engine of Massachusetts economic development. This value includes recreational tourism spending, recreational equipment spending, the timber industry,…
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work for the Quebec Labrador Foundation on a Community Forestry Workshop in Gorham, New Hampshire. This workshop was undertaken as part of our work with the National Community Forestry Center - Northern Forest…
This paper describes preliminary learning from a project designed to test new ways of providing services to rural forested communities in the United States.
This report describes the efforts of several Vermont forest landowners who developed cooperative relationships with their neighbors in order to provide habitat for wildlife.
An annotated bibliography describing materials and resources available in the Northern Forest for those interested in finding out more about how, why, and when cooperative action forest landowners makes-sense ecologically, economically, and socially.
Town forests are a unique aspect of forestry in New England. Originally intended as a source of wood supply for the town, these forests now provide a means for educating the community about the value of working forests. This case study of Lincoln,…
This report chronicles the Middle Ground Collaborative and its development of an interactive exhibit to tour the state of Maine in an attempt to generate dialogue about the history and future of Maine's forest resources. This report compiles the research…
This report serves dual purposes: it reports on the findings of a research project and also explores the process of participatory research using a case study approach. This is a story of a volatile industry looking for answers. This report contains…
A compilation of six readings chosen to provide examples of participatory research in the United States and Canada.
Summarizes the learnings and insights of a group of citizens from Richford, Vermont as they have explored the issues relating to the supply and harvesting of biomass from local lands. The Richford Wood Initiative (RWI) has been meeting regularly since…
A description of several school-based forest education programs in the Northern Forest Region- Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.
A report summarizing a workshop on town forest management held in Gorham, New Hampshire in September of 2003. This workshop, sponsored by the National Community Forestry Center, Northern Forest Region and the Quebec-Labrador Foundation/Atlantic Center…
This report provides an overview for all those interested in learning more about community forestry, combining original material with articles by several well known community forestry practitioners to create a concise introduction to this fascinating…
This report summarizes results of the 2001 Town Plans contest, with excerpts from most of the submissions.
This introductory webinar introduced wealth creation concepts and vocabulary, including wealth creation value chains and multiple forms of wealth, to Walton Family Foundation grantees in the Verde Valley area of Arizona.
A civic decision making tool for evaluating the viability of wood biomass district heating systems for New Hampshire communities.
This file contains presentations by participants in a session highlighting three emerging practices in community development: financial education and coaching, developing entrepreneurial ecosystems, and a wealth creation approach to development in…
Wealth Creation in Rural Communities presentation made to the 8th Annual BALLE Business Conference and Member Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. May 21-23, 2010.
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's work, in collaboration with the National Cooperative Business Association, to document the impacts cooperatives have on multiple forms of wealth in their communities. This work was undertaken as part of Yellow…
This case study profiles Yellow Wood's project management work with the Wealth Creation in Rural Communities - Building Sustainable Livelihoods (WealthWorks) initiative.
A balanced approach to development takes account of the triple bottom line, benefiting the economy, the environment, and social inclusion simultaneously, while considering the impacts on seven forms of wealth (individual, social, intellectual, natural,…
A balanced approach to development takes account of the triple bottom line, benefiting the economy, the environment, and social inclusion simultaneously, while considering the impacts on seven forms of wealth (individual, social, intellectual, natural,…
A balanced approach to development takes account of the triple bottom line, benefiting the economy, the environment, and social inclusion simultaneously, while considering the impacts on seven forms of wealth (individual, social, intellectual, natural,…
A balanced approach to development takes account of the triple bottom line, benefiting the economy, the environment, and social inclusion simultaneously. This Interim Report on the progress of the project assesses lessons learned so far.
This article by Marjorie Kelly and Shanna Ratner was posted to the Yes! Magazine website on August 3, 2010.
This webinar shares the principles and key tools of the Wealth Creation in Rural Communities – Building Sustainable Livelihoods framework, while also telling a story of this work on the ground. It uses the example of a biofuels value chain being constructed…
Resources do not represent community wealth unless communities own and control them. This report introduces the concept of shared ownership, then describes and explores various models, looking at strengths, weaknesses, the range of applications, expertise…
This Wealth Creation in Rural Communities presentation, "Expanding Livelihoods Opportunities for Low-Income and Poor Households," was presented by Wayne Fawbush to the 2010 Northeast Rural Summit in Burlington, Vermont
Place-based grantees from three regions (Central Appalachia, the Alabama Black Belt and Mid-South Delta, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas), resource team members, researchers, and Ford Foundation staff met at the Ford Foundation office in New…
This webinar presentation was made as part of Yellow Wood's work with the National Cooperative Business Association and individual cooperatives on measuring the impacts cooperatives have on multiple forms of wealth.
