Greetings all. My message this month focuses on important ongoing business of the Community Development Society (CDS). We continue working with the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) on our joint conference in Big Sky, Montana June 11 – 14, 2017. The event will focus on partnerships and we are planning for engaging speakers, a robust and diverse array of presentations and sessions, and of course fun in a great atmosphere. The Call for Abstracts will be available soon so please keep your eye out on the CDS website www.comm-dev.org. For more information about conference planning, and to get involved, please contact Bryan Hains, CDS Vice President of Programs This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. CDS is also looking ahead to plan our CDS Annual International Conference in 2018. We will be soliciting proposals from interested parties to hold this conference. For more information about the CDS Annual International Conference 2018 please contact Cindy Banyai, CDS Vice President of Operations, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Another important aspect of CDS business we are focusing on is membership. If you have been a member and have not yet renewed, please do so by going to our website www.comm-dev.org. If you have not been a member and are interested, please join CDS. As an individual community developer I can say this is the most diverse, passionate, and engaging group I belong to, and encourage you to join. We offer opportunities for publication, professional development, and leadership by serving on Committees, and the Board—and the CDS NACDEP Conference in Montana June 11 - 14, 2017! Please make sure to renew your membership, or join as a new member of CDS today. As we head into the fall season please take care when traveling to communities, work, and home. Please remember to show appreciation, and thank you for all you do. Sincerely, Chris Marko CDS President

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As you may have noticed, this run of Vanguard is a little later than usual. As editor, I would like to apologize for the delay in bringing you the community development news you come to rely on. I, like my fellow Community Development Society Board members, am a volunteer for our organization. As such, sometimes, professional obligations take predecence over volunteer responsibilities. I found myself in such a circumstance over the past few weeks and it resulted in this delay. I apologize for this once again and re-commit to you that Vanguard will resume its regular publication around the 15th of the month come October. Thanks for your understanding and being such an outstanding group of community developers!!

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By Chris Marko

The Community Development Society (CDS) Board met September 9^th- 10^th in Big Sky, Montana—the site for our next conference with the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP).  The CDS Board met jointly with the NACDEP Board to tour the venue, facilities, and plan logistics for the conference, and develop common goals and expectations for the conference—I can tell you it is truly and wonderful place with mountainous inspiration all around.  Rumor has it that some CDS and NACDEP folks got involved with some wrangling on site.  One of the common goals of both Boards is to have fun so get ready for another great, educational, and fun conference in Montana!  The dates are June 11th – 14, 2017 so mark your calendars and plan ahead.  Vacation packages are available at Big Sky so bring your family, friends, and explore what the local area has to offer—Yellowstone National Park is less than two hours from the Bozeman airport.  The CDS NACDEP Conference 2017 theme is Big Skies, Bold Partnerships continuing CDS’ tradition of collaboration and strengthening partnerships with groups and people involved with community development.  At the CDS Board meeting we accomplished two items which build on our partnership with the International Association for Community Development (IACD) who we conducted our joint International Conference in Minnesota in July, 2016 on Sustaining Community Change.  The CDS Board voted to adopt the newly created definition of Community Development by IACD:   “Community development is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes participative democracy, sustainable development, rights, economic opportunity, equality and social justice, through the organization, education and empowerment of people within their communities, whether these be of locality, identity or interest, in urban and rural settings".   We believe it is important to promote representation of community development with common terms and will welcome further discussion about community development, as we have and will continue to do as community developers this year, and at the upcoming CDS NACDEP Conference June 11 – 14 2017 in Big Sky!  The CDS Board also plans to partner with IACD on conferences every fourth year which will strengthen the breadth of our organizations globally.  Similarly CDS intends to develop opportunities with NACDEP regarding leadership, economic development, and education through our conference and partnership.  CDS Board members had the pleasure of visiting with Montana State University Extension staff to discuss what we do in community development.  Stay tuned for our Call for Abstracts which will be issued earlier this year as we will be having our conference earlier in the summer than we have traditionally held our conference (late July) next year.  We encourage you to consider submitting an abstract, welcome and invite your participation in the conference, and as always encourage you to participate on Committees and organizational development for CDS.   As outlined at the CDS IACD Conference my focus as President involves cultivating new leadership for CDS, sustaining change and building on sustainability themes, and continuing to continue improving organizational processes and consistency for the future of CDS.  We also welcome articles for publication in our Journal of Community Development, and CD Practice.  For more information about the conference feel free to contact Bryan Hains, Vice President of Programs and the newly formed Conference Planning Committee Bryan Hains, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; for information CDS operations and Vanguard feel free to contact Cindy Banyai, Vice President of Operations, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; and for anything to do with CDS feel free to get in touch yours truly, Chris Marko, CDS President This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  I appreciate what you do in community development.  Keep up the great work!

Business is picking up in the northwest Ohio town of McComb (pop. 1,600). From a car dealer to a carpet store, merchants are feeling optimistic and opening shops.  In one month’s time eight ribbon cuttings have happened. 

When has there been so much activity in this small town? There hasn’t, at least not in the past six decades.

“There hasn’t been anything happening downtown, because, as long as I can remember, it was a furniture store. When the furniture store went out, downtown was devastated,” said Joe Wasson, whose family owned Bennett’s Furniture Town. 

In 2013, Bennett’s closed. That left 50,000 square feet of retail space in 16 buildings vacant, right downtown. Since then Wasson has been among those working to help write McComb’s next chapter. Wasson has been involved in economic development efforts and is project coordinator for a Community Heart & Soul™ project that kicked off a year ago.

Community Heart & Soul is a community development method pioneered by the Orton Family Foundation. The project is a partnership with The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation.  

In June, three ribbon cuttings were held:  Select Auto Group at the edge of downtown; Northwestern Water and Sewer District Water Shed, a place for people to fill jugs with drinking water;  and  Great Scot storage facility behind the Great Scot supermarket.

A few weeks later ribbons were cut at Siferd’s Carpet, which moved back into a space it occupied about six years earlier; Bread & Butter Antiques, celebrating  renovations after a storm damaged its building; McComb Emporium, a group-owned antique and vintage goods store; Kayro’s Fine Art, an art studio where classes are also held; and Tees, Tees and More, a custom embroidery and retail shop. 

Holly Hanken, owner of Tees, Tees and More in downtown, felt like the timing was right to start her business. She sensed good things happening around the Heart & Soul project and decided to take the plunge. So far, business is going better than she projected and she’s excited to be getting work locally and from out of town.

“It’s a good time for McComb. McComb is moving into its next phase of life cycle, definitely in a positive way,” Hanken said.

It’s hard to say what factor or factors are contributing to McComb’s momentum, Wasson said. But McComb Region Heart & Soul, which is still underway, has helped foster a sense that local residents can steer change and that’s helped make people feel optimistic about the future.

“There’s a new sense of pride here in town. I can see that as I walk down any street. People are taking care of their yards a little better. It’s a whole sense of community,” Wasson said. “Heart and Soul’s been a big part of that. Would it have happened without Heart and Soul? I don’t know what path we’d be on, but it’s a byproduct of seeing that there’s light at the end of the tunnel, that things are happening, and that we are in control of what happens to us.”

If you have visited the website in recent weeks you have probably noticed that there have been a number of changes to the look, feel and operation of the website. The “member only” section has been total revamped and the home page has a new look. In addition, a new resource has been added to the website called “Case Studies.” You’ll find it under the professional development tab on the home page of the website. This is a resource that has been developed by the international committee under the leadership of Jim Cavaye and Gary Goreham. The goal is to highlight the good community development work happening around the world. So far, five case studies have been published with more on the way. Each one includes a short description of the project and some photos to provide a little context. Take a look and see what you think. If you have a case study you would like to share simply write up a short description of your case study (half page is fine), add a couple of photos and/or a short video clip and send it to Gary (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and/or Jim (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). They will make sure your story is told and becomes a resource for all of us to learn from.

By Craig Talmage

 

CDS Awards, Scholarships, and Banquet This Year (2016)

Plan and Program

This year’s banquet begins at 6:30pm. Gisele (and Charlie?) will welcome guests to the Banquet. Salads will be on the table, and dinner will be served shortly thereafter. At 7:10pm. Gisele (and Charlie?) will recognize Past Presidents of CDS (and IACD?). At 7:15pm, the awards banquet will begin. Six awards (five from CDS; one from IACD) and six scholarships (all from CDS) will be recognized (all listed below). Participants have been asked ahead of time if they would like to make any remarks, and have asked to make any remarks brief. All emcees/speakers will have a script. Participants will have programs available at their tables, and a rolling slideshow of winners will be shown. At 8:00pm, the live auction will begin.

Awards

·         Ted Bradshaw Outstanding Research – David Campbell, University of California-Davis

·         Donald W. Littrell New Professional Award – Neil Linscheid, University of Minnesota Extension

·         Innovative Program Award – Strengthening Skills for Leading Others Program of the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK)

·         Outstanding Program Award – The Futures Program from the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality

·         Friend of Community Development Award – Gavin Rennie, Unitec

·         IACD Global Ambassador Award* - Randy Adams, Vice President of IACD, past President of CDS, and former Executive Director of the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) in the U.S. *This award will be given out by IACD, not CDS. The President of IACD will present the award.  

Scholarships

·         CD Scholarship Fund ($1000) - Renee Reed Miller

·         CD Scholarship Fund ($1000)  - Toyin Kolawole

·         George Nickolaus CD Graduate Student Award Fund ($1000)  - Richard Loughery*
Richard will not be present to receive the award. He has been asked to send remarks.

·         Nette Nelson Travel Fund ($2000) - Sharad Sharma

·         Ted Bradshaw Fund to Support Student Engagement in CDS ($1000): Travel Scholarship - Bidita Jawher Tithi

·         Ted Bradshaw Fund to Support Student Engagement in CDS ($1000): Community-Based Research Scholarship - Annie Li

 

CDS Awards Status and Submissions by Year

The table below shows the number of (qualified) applications received each year for the past 7 years.

	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Gibson (DSA)	2	1	1	1	0	0	0
Bradshaw  (Research)	2	1	1	2	0	2	1
Littrell (New Professional)	1	1	2	1	2	1	1
CD Achievement	3	1	1	3	2	1	1
Outstanding Program	2	0	2	1	1	2	4
Innovative Program	3	0	2	2	5	4	4
Current Research	1	1	0	1	1	2	0
Friend of CDS	1	0	0	2	1	2	2
Student Award	2	0	0	2	0	1	0
Total Entries	17	5	9	15	12	15	13
Carryover				2	2	2
Dual Entry							2
Net Entries	17	5	9	13	10	13	11

 

·         2013 Carryover – Littrell New Professional, Outstanding Program

·         2014 Carryover – CD Achievement (2)

·         2015 Carryover – Littrell New Professional, Outstanding Program

·         2016 Dual Entry – Innovative Program and Outstanding Program (2)

 

The number of award entries (both Total and Net) have been relatively stable since 2013.  This represents a rebound from low years in 2011 (especially) and 2012. 

 

The category that has been the most popular over the period examined has been “Innovative Program.”   It has received multiple entries except for the 2011 (which was the nadir for awards submissions).   The next two most popular award categories have been Community Development Achievement and Outstanding Program. 

 

The number of submissions for each, however, has been boosted since by the carryover of applications (2013-2015) and the acceptance of applications for both programming categories (2016).

 

Related to that, Community Development Achievement is the one category has had at least one submission during the period examined – although resubmissions kept that streak alive in 2014.

Three awards have had averaged less than one submission per year for the time period examined – the Duane L. Gibson Distinguished Service Award, the Student Recognition Award, and the Current Research Award.  

CDS Awards and Scholarships Possible Changes for Discussion

 

·         Increase publicity on all the awards and scholarships – especially the larger named awards

o   Continue to utilize current means

o   Have an even stronger social media push

o   Ensure part of application/renewal packet

o   Need to consider more grassroots ways of soliciting from all institutions/groups represented among CDS

o   Survey our membership regarding their perceptions of our awards and scholarships

·         Ramp up encouragement of awards and scholarships nominations

o   From board members

o   From committee chairs

o   From moderators and presenters and conference

o   Through the journals

·         Create a new teaching/education based award or transform another award to be specifically teaching/education focused

o   No current teaching-focused award

o   Need to consider possible bias towards activity in awards recipients

§  Are we biased in selection?

§  Are we biased in our solicitation?

·         Outstanding Program and Innovative Program into Program of Merit

o   Recognize multiple entries

o   Moving in that direction with multiple entries

·         Consider dropping or combining awards that receive few entries each year

o   This likely isn’t a great option, but it is worth putting on the table

§  Non-named awards such as the current research award and student recognition award do not receive many nominations each year.

·         Discuss and address whether the student recognition award should come with a stipend

o   Should the award be considered a scholarship

·         Allow more flexibility on number of program awards that can be given out each year

o   Currently some are limited and some are not

o   Limits make sense on special honors, less so on program awards

CDS Awards and Scholarships Leadership Transitions (2016-2017)

Awards

·         Michael Dougherty and Craig Talmage will remain as co-chairs. Sheri Smith will remain on the committee. We will be looking for at least two additional members for next year.

Scholarships

·         Jane Leonard has agreed to chair the scholarships committee. She will be recruiting additional members for the committee. If necessary, Craig Talmage will serve as a member of the committee, but his primarily role will be to help maintain and run the online application process.

Looking to Joint CDS NACDEP Conference in 2017

Michael Dougherty is the chair of the NACDEP Recognition Committee and has been in contact with that organization’s board regarding awards next year. A joint banquet and awards ceremony seems appropriate. We have suggested that a back and forth / alternating model would suit the ceremony well. For example, we would give out one award, and then NACDEP will give out an award. A combined script would be developed to ensure things run smoothly. A joint ceremony seems fitting when looking at extension winners of CDS Awards over the past 7 years.

Extension Winners of CDS Awards Since 2010

CD Achievement (2 of 6 awards)

·         Sharon Gulick, University of Missouri Extension (2015)

·         Mark Peterson, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (2011)

Current Research (3 of 6 awards)

·         University of Minnesota Extension Community Economics Team (2015)

·         Dave Ivan, Michigan State University Extension (2012)

·         Steve Jeanetta, University of Missouri Extension (2012)

Littrell New Professional Award (2 of 7 awards)

·         Neil Linschied, University of Minnesota Extension (2016)

·         Paul Lachapelle, Montana State University Extension (2011)

Gibson DSA (2 of 4 awards)

·         Mary Emery, South Dakota State University (2012)

·         Ron Hustedde, University of Kentucky (2010)

Friend of CDS (0 of 6 awards) and Student Recognition (0 of 3)

 

Innovative Program Award (6 of 7 awards)

·         Strengthening Skills for Leading Others Program, CEDIK, University of Kentucky (2016)

·         Community Arts Program, University of Missouri Extension (2014)

·         Marketing Hometown America, UNL, NDSU and SDSU Extension (2014)

·         Great Community Book Read Program, South Dakota State University (2013)

·         Healthy Econsystems, Healthy Communities – Kansas PRIDE (2012)

·         Latino Farmers and Local Multicultural Food and Marketing Systems, Iowa State (2010)

Outstanding Program Award (3 of 5 awards)

·         The Futures Program, UMN Extension Center for Community Vitality (2016)

·         Stronger Economies Together, SEDC (2013)

·         Saving Our Grocery Stores, Saving Our Communities: K-State’s Rural Grocery Initiative (2010)

Bradshaw Research (1 of 3)

·         David Campbell, University of California (2016)

Submitted by Awards and Recognition Committee:

Michael Dougherty, CDS Awards and Recognition Co-Chair

Craig Talmage, CDS Awards and Recognition Co-Chair

Sheri Smith, CDS Awards and Recognition Committee Member

 

Submitted by Scholarship Committee:

Craig Talmage, CDS Scholarship Committee Member

Kurt Mantoya, CDS Scholarship Committee Member

 

Jane Leonard, CDS Scholarship Committee Chair

By Craig Talmage

This year we celebrated our award and scholarship winners at our annual banquet at the CDS Conference. We would again like to recognize our award and scholarship recipients.  Also, if you are interested in serving on our committee, please email Craig Talmage (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Please also consider nominating a person or program for an award or scholarship next year. Learn more at http://www.comm-dev.org/about/awards-and-scholarships.

Awards

·         Ted Bradshaw Outstanding Research – David Campbell, University of California-Davis

·         Donald W. Littrell New Professional Award – Neil Linscheid, University of Minnesota Extension

·         Innovative Program Award – Strengthening Skills for Leading Others Program of the Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky (CEDIK)

·         Outstanding Program Award – The Futures Program from the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality

·         Friend of Community Development Award – Gavin Rennie, Unitec

Scholarships

·         CD Scholarship Fund - Renee Reed Miller

·         CD Scholarship Fund - Toyin Kolawole

·         George Nickolaus CD Graduate Student Award Fund - Richard Loughery

·         Nette Nelson Travel Fund - Sharad Sharma

·         Ted Bradshaw Fund to Support Student Engagement in CDS: Travel Scholarship - Bidita Jawher Tithi

 

·         Ted Bradshaw Fund to Support Student Engagement in CDS: Community-Based Research Scholarship - Annie Li

By Chris Marko

 

First of all thank you to all who were involved with planning, conducting, and participating in this year’s Community Development Society (CDS) and International Association for Community Development (IACD) Conference in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA July 24^th – 27^th, 2016.  We hope you found the event inspiring, valuable, and practical for your future research and practice in community development, and the many aspects of sustaining community change, and sustainable development.  Please keep in touch with people you met, share information, experiences, opportunities, and please continue to participate with CDS.  I would like to welcome our new CDS Board members:  Leanne Avery, State University New York (SUNY) at Oneonta, New York; Kyle Patrick Williams, Chapman University, Orange, California; Michael Fortunato, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas; and Wilson Majee, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.  We have a creative and capable group of leaders focused on getting things done.  We invite you to participate with CDS, join Committees, contribute an article, develop a proposal for next year’s conference in Montana!  In particular we are looking for people to participate on CDS Committees. We are currently finalizing our Committees, and Committee leadership, and welcome your interests, ideas, leadership capabilities, and collaboration on behalf of the Society:

Awards and Recognition Committee

Issues eight (8) annual awards for CDS recognizing volunteer efforts for those who assist the society and recognizes outgoing board members for the society.

• Co-chair: Craig Talmage, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Co-chair: Michael Dougherty, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Communications/Publications Committee

The Communications Committee is responsible for design and development of communication networks among CDS members and entities external to CDS. Committee members oversee content management of the CDS website; anticipate and recommend policy to support communication needs in CDS; prepare and propose an annual budget to the Board of Directors; manage CD Practice, Vanguard, and Community Development; recommend policy regarding the production and distribution of CDS publications; and organize the process of appointing editors, including recommendations to the board.

• Chair Printed Materials: Abbie Gaffey, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Co-chair Electronic Materials: Cindy Banyai, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Co-chair Website: Steve Jeanetta, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Ex officio members:

– CD Practice Editor: Craig Talmage, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

– Community Development Editor: John Green, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 – Vanguard Editor: Cindy Banyai, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Finance Committee

This important committee reviews and recommends policies and procedures for the CDS Endowment, manages the fund-raising appeals to CDS groups, and seeks financial support from foundations and corporations. The committee is also responsible for monitoring the overall financial health of CDS.

• Co-chair: Tony Gauvin, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

·         Co-chair: Steve Jeanetta, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

International Committee

The International Committee develops strong and productive inter-country communication, research, action, and project links among CDS members and broadens international participation of CDS.

• Co-chair: Jim Cavaye, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

·         Co-chair: Gary Goreham, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Marketing/Membership Committee

This committee’s responsibilities include developing and implementing a far-reaching innovative plan that will nurture and sustain a viable CDS while adding value to the field and offering opportunities for networking, skill development, and capacity building of organizations, people, and communities.

·         Chair: Dan Kahl, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Nominations and Leadership Development

The role of this committee is to foster democratic process within CDS itself by organizing and carrying out the election of officers according to the CDS bylaws, identifying potential candidates for office, and communicating the opportunities for involvement in the leadership of CDS to the membership.

• Co-Chair:  Kyle Patrick Williams, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Co-Chair:  Craig Talmage, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2016 Program Planning Committee

The role of the Program Planning Committee is to develop the program for the 2017 CDS Annual International Conference to be held in Big Sky, Montana. Keynote speakers and plenary sessions will be determined based on conference theme, available resources, and the Local Host Committee. Concurrent sessions will be selected based on a review of abstracts received in response to the Call for Presentations. The committee will provide support with keynote speakers, presenters, moderators, mobile learning workshops, and sponsors. Mobile learning workshops will be coordinated with the Local Host Committee. Opportunities will be provided for feedback and evaluation of the conference.

• Chair: Bryan Haines, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

Site Selection Committee

Locates potential places for future CDS annual conferences that can provide a peak learning network experience for CD practitioners, scholars, and policy makers.

·         Chair:  Cindy Banyai, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CDS Executive Committee

If you are interested in any committees, have questions, are interested in learning more about CDS, and how to get involved, please feel to contact any one of the CDS Executive Committee members:

Abbie Gaffey, Secretary, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Steve Jeanetta, Treasurer, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cindy Banyai, Vice President of Operations, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bryan Haines, Vice President of Programs, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Chris Marko, President, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thank you and look forward to a great year!

 

 

 

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See also: Total Cost of Olympic Games

Community Development Researchers and Practitioners: Please see the following release from our partners at the University of Wisconsin. The "Population Trends in Post-Recession Rural America" series should be informative your work!

 

--John J. Green, Editor

Community Development

University of Mississippi

 

Colleagues,

We are very pleased to announce the release of the second brief of the Population Trends in Post-Recession Rural America series! This series provides information about current trends confronting rural people and their communities in the United States. The briefs present cutting edge research in a way that is useful for and accessible to policy makers, community development practitioners, local governments, community groups and organizations, and other decision-makers. 

 

The second brief in the series, Hispanic Health Insurance Rates Differ between Established and New Hispanic Destinations by Shannon M. Monnat, discusses how health insurance rates for Hispanics have changed over time and vary when comparing different types of counties.

Subsequent briefs will be released on a rolling basis and can be found on the series website Population Trends in Post-Recession Rural America series. Upcoming briefs will focus on how trends in age-specific migration have impacted rural areas and how aging and loss of services are becoming an issue in rural communities . All briefs will be available via the website. We will announce new contributions to the series when they are released and we also invite you to check the site often!

 

Current contributors are members of the W3001 project funded by WAAESD. We invite contributions from researchers examining population trends in contemporary rural America. Inquiries regarding submissions and any other questions about the series can be sent to the editorial committee at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

The Editorial Committee,

John Cromartie, USDA Economic Research Service

Katherine Curtis, University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

Daniel Veroff, University of Wisconsin-Extension

Michael Carolan and James Hale are authors of a "groundbreaking" article entitled, "'Growing' communities with urban agriculture: Generating value above and below ground." Drawing on their own research, the authors elaborate upon existing approaches to conceptualizing the forms and flows of capital involved in community development. They address both the Community Capitals Framework and the Diverse Economies Framework. As the authors state, "we hope this article helps others think through the complex processes involved in not only generating community capitals, but in all that goes into making people feel as though certain things ought to be valued in the first place, even those that cannot be readily counted." Interested readers can find this article in volume 47, issue 4 of Community Development (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcod20/current). 

--John J. Green, Editor

Community Development

 

University of Mississippi

 

 

 

 

COMMITTEE REPORT

 

 

 

 

 

Board Meeting Date:  July 13, 2015

 

 

 

Committee Name:  Finance Committee

 

 

 

Committee Chair:  Tony Gauvin (Co-Chair) / Steve Jeanetta (Co-Chair)

 

 

 

Committee Members:  Vickie Berkley, Steve Jeanetta, Alan Kirk, Jane Leonard, Katie Ellis, Brent Hales, Mary Simon Leuci, Tony Gauvin, Sharon Gulick, Kim Walker, Linda Lee Blaine.

 

 

 

Summary of Activities: 

 

 

 

April 29 Meeting

 

June 21 Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strategic Investment Fund

 

 

 

Policies and procedures to create the strategic investment fund have been created, accepted and ready to be placed as part of the POG. An ad-hoc subcommittee of Sharon Gulick, Jane Leonard, Linda Lee Blaine, Steve Jeanetta, and Tony Gauvin was formed to create policy and procedures for distribution of the SIF funds. The subcommittee opted to create two new grant programs utilizing the SIF and policy was drafted. With board approval of the drafted policy, the funds will be distributed through two grant opportunities; CDS Institutional Capacity Grants and Community Development Advancement Grants. (see included draft documents. The intent is to use some of the SIF funds to advance the Community Development Society and use some SIF Funds to advance the discipline of Community Development.  

 

 

 

Board Acton:  Approve creation of the CDS Institutional Capacity Grants and Community Development Advancement Grants to begin January 1, 2017 as defined in the attached documents.     

 

 

 

 

 

$150,000 was used to create the SIF funds with $30,000 allocated to a working account and placed in money market account. The remaining $120,000 was placed with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation on September 28, 2015 and invested in the US Bank Trust Investment Pool. An additional $14,000 surplus from the operations budget of 2015 is being added to the GMF SIF fund. The fund was set to distribution mode and we have been receiving distribution from the investment account. We have received $3211 is distributions so far. The May GMF SIF statement and gift agreement are included with the report. The total current SIF funds is $168,771.24 with  $33,467.16 in the SIF working account and $135,304.08 in the SIF Investment account.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIF Accounting

 

 

 

SIF Investment Account
9/28/2015		$120,000.00		Initial deposit
11/3/2015			$1,018.00	Distribution
12/31/2015			$400.00	2015 Management Fee
12/31/2015		$3,077.14		2015 Yearly Gain
2/18/2016			$1,093.00	Distribution
5/18/2016			$1,100.00	Distribution
5/31/2016		$2,344.84		2016 Gains YTD
5/31/2016			$506.90	2016 Management Fee YTD
6/30/2016		$14,000.00		2015 Contribution from Budget
		$139,421.98	$4,117.90
	Total	$135,304.08
SIF Money Market Account
9/28/2015		$30,000.00	Initial Deposit
6/30/2015		$3,211.00	Distributions
6/30/2015		$256.16	Interest to date
	Total	$33,467.16
Total SIF Funds		$168,771.24

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2017 Scholarships – Endowment Distribution Subcommittee

 

 

 

The Endowment Distribution Subcommittee (Linda Sunde, John Kuester, Jane Leonard and Kristin Kauth) recommends, and the Finance Committee concurs, that following be the distribution from the Endowment for the 2017 Awards. Acceptance of these amounts requires BOD approval. This recommendation is back on schedule after resolving the issues associated with distribution mode. In the future, the finance committee anticipates that it will be available to provide a distribution recommendation for 2018 prior to the 2017 conferences as required by the POG.  

 

 

 

$1,000	-Bradshaw Fund to Support Student Engagement in CDS	(1 @ $1,000)
$2,000	-Nette Nelson Travel Scholarship Fund	(1 @ $2,000)
$1,000	-George Nickolaus CD Graduate Student Award	(1 @ $1,000)
$1,000	-Scholarship Fund	(1 @ $1,000)
$5,000	-Total

 

 

 

The $5000 total is $2000 less than the previous year and is indicative of poor market performance. Hopefully,  markets will improve and we will be able to recommend greater funding in the future  

In 2016, the Subcommittee also wishes to review the original vision in the establishment of the Endowment and the lack of utilization of the non-scholarship funds (Diversity Educational Materials).  We will then pass on our thoughts and recommendations to the Finance Committee.

 

 

 

Board Acton:  Approve the $5000 recommendation of the finance committee for 2017 awards with $1000 for George Nickolas Award, $2000 for Nette Nelson Award, $1000 for the Bradshaw Award and $1000 for scholarship.    

 

 

 

Auction

 

 

 

The Auction Subcommittee (Katie Ellis, Mary Leuci, Brent Hales and Linda Lee Blaine) have been very busy getting ready for this year’s auction. The Silent auction returns with Brent Hales as the auctioneer. The focus has been on high quality items indicative of the many regions our members represent.  Shipping of packages from the conference is available at the mall of America and the twin cities airport so no one has to worry about getting their newly won auction item home. We would like to encourage conference attendees to bid high and often.  Linda Lee has been posting pictures of donated items on social media. 

 

 

 

Endowment Report

 

 

 

After the first full year of receiving distributions and following the retirement of endowment guru Linda Sunde, the Finance committee has been painfully aware the amount of effort and time required to maintain an accurate and timely accounting of endowment activities. A subcommittee was formed of Tony Gauvin, Linda Sunde, Steve Jeanette, John Gulick and Alan Kirk meet to discuss how endowment reports will be processed in the future. For this year Linda Sunde has graciously agreed to produce the report for this year’s conference and those will be coming in a separate communication. As of the end of May, 2016, we have 192,998.55 invested with eth Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

 

 

 

 

 

Roots and Wings and 50 by 50 Campaign

 

 

 

The roots and wings subcommittee was reinvigorated with both old (Kim Walker) and new members (Linda Lee Blaine).  John Gulick volunteered to send out thank you notes to last tears contributors. We have had several discussions of how to increase our fundraising efforts, several ideas have already been implemented like being able to contribute when registering for the conference.

 

 

 

In anticipation of our 50^th Anniversary Conference in Missouri we will be launching a 50 by 50 campaign to raise $50,000 for the endowment prior to the end of the 2019 conference. Beginning at this year’s conference, this will give us 3 years to raise an additional $50,000 for the endowment. Kim Walker will be working on creating a brand and marketing communications for the campaign. We will have a table set up next to registration at the conference to begin collections donations for the 50 by 50 campaign.     

 

 

 

Enclosures:

 

An Example Funding Scenario based on Jan 2016 numbers.docx

 

Community Development Advancement Grant.docx

 

Community Development Society Institutional Capacity Grant Application.docx

 

Community Development Society Institutional Capacity Grant.docx

 

Endowment EOY 2015.pdf

 

Endowment gifts.pdf

 

Endowment Grants.pdf

 

Endowment May 2016.pdf

 

Finance Committee Report 7-13-2014.docx

 

SIF Distibutions.pdf

 

SIF EOY 2015.pdf

 

May 2016.pdf

 

             

 

Electronic communication reach and followers by platform

 

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1. Vanguard

a. Mailing list grew to 1040

b. 27.9% average open rate

2. LinkedIn Group

a. 548 members

3. Facebook Page

a. 782 likes

b. Reach and interactions increased dramatically when quote campaign started in March – moving from an average of less than 100 people reached with posts to an average range above 300

c. Fans

i. 48% women, 48% men

ii. Mostly from US, but have international following – particularly from Australia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, UK

4. Facebook Group

a. 679 members

5. Twitter

a. 455 followers

b. 131 impressions per day from April 15-July 14, 2016

 

1) 2015-2016 highlights and accomplishments

a) Update of CDS brochure

b) Planning of new members’ activity at CDS 2016 reception

c) 2 new social media contributors

i) Coordination with CDS 2016 planning committee for social media promotion

2) 2015-2016 ongoing activities

a) Diversity ad hoc committee

b) Connecting with “new members” through email

c) POG, website alignment and rolling membership

d) LinkedIn Company page update

 

Co-Chair Cindy Banyai

Co-Chair Dan Kahl

A few years ago, the CDS Finance Committee had an interesting and fun problem to solve.  Our operations finance account had more money in it than was required to maintain our yearly operations.  The excess of cash was due to our recent well-attended annual conferences. The CDS Polices and Operational Guidelines (POG) required the Finance Committee;  “To prudently invest funds not immediately needed for the operation of the CDS, in order to provide a reasonable return, while limiting the risk of loss.”  Much debate ensued in the Finance Committee and the CDS Board of Directors (BOD) on how CDS would invest and use these funds in the future. At the Fall 2014 BOD meeting in Lexington, KY, the decision was to create a Strategic Initiatives Fund (SIF) with two accounts, a SIF Working Account (SIFWA) and a SIF Investment account (SIFIA) utilizing a 20/80% allocation between the accounts.  The SIFIA was invested with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the SIFWA was placed in an interest bearing money market account.  Quarterly distributions from the SIFIA would go the SIFWA.  These accounts would also be funded by any surplus cash that exceeds 120% of the maximum cash flows requirements for the upcoming yearly operational budget. The initial allocation to the two accounts was $120,000 to the SIFIA and $30,000 to the SIFWA with the caveat that up to 60% of the SIFWA could be awarded from the SIFWA every year to fund strategic projects that are in tgye interest of CDS .  Currently, the total current SIF funds is $168,771.24 with $33,467.16 in the SIF working account and $135,304.08 in the SIF Investment account.     

While this was an exciting time for the finance committee and CDS, it created yet one more problem. How would CDS allocate funds from the SIFWA in a fair and equitable manner and ensure that the funded projects would be in the Interest of the Community Development Society?  An ad-hoc sub-committee of the CDS Finance Committee was formed to analyze the issue and after months of debate, it was decided that Community Development Society should offer grants funded by the SIF. Two new grant programs were developed, the Community Development Society Institutional Capacity Grant (CDSICG) Program and Community Development Advancement Grant (CDAG) Program. Each grant program could award up to 30% of SIFWA every year.   The two new grants programs were accepted by unanimous vote at CDS BOD at their 2016 yearly meeting in Bloomington, Minnesota. The initial solicitations for grant applications for the programs will be released in January of 2017 on the comm-dev.org web site and in an e-mail to all members.  The CDs finance committee anticipates having $10,000 available for each grant program to allocate next year.    

                The Community Development Society Institutional Capacity Grants (CDSICG) will fund special one-time projects that enhance or increase the capacity and ability of CDS to fulfill its mission and promote the CDS Principles of Good Practice to a larger audience.  The is a limit of two awards per year for no more than 30% (total) of the working account for both awards. For example, one project could be funded for 30% of the SIF working account (January 1, amount) or two projects for 15% each of the SIFWA.  Funds not utilized in one year will remain with the SIFWA.  The intent of the grant is to allow CDS to address external resources that are not currently available within its membership to meet the stated purposes of the capacity grant applications. It is not intended to supplant or augment existing committee work which can be funded from annual committee budgets.  Projects must be unique to CDS and have discernable outcomes, reasonable timelines and fixed budgets.  Applications are limited to current members of the CDS Board of Directors. Unfunded applications can be modified and resubmitted in the next opportunity. Additional process guidelines will be available on comm-dev.org website in the new future.  

Community Development Advancement Grants (CDAG) fund projects that advance the field of Community Development. These projects could be focused on creating educational resources, projects that increase our understanding of issues, processes that engage people across time and space, and other projects that will enhance and support the science, practice and discipline of Community Development. It is very important that the applicant build a strong case how the project advances Community Development in some form.  The total Community Development Advancement Grants awards are limited to 30% of the SIFWA each year (January 1, amount), with no one grant allocating more than 10% of the SIFWA. It is expected that an awardee of a CDAG will present on the project at the next CDS annual conference following project completion.   Projects must be unique to CDS and have discernable outcomes, reasonable timelines and fixed budgets.  Applications are open to CDS members only. The project operational team can include non-CDS members but team leadership and fiscal responsibility must be established by a current CDS member. An individual can submit more than one application per grant cycle, but only the top ranked application will be funded in the case of multiple accepted applications by one individual.  Grant applications will be peer-reviewed.  Additional process guidelines will be available on comm-dev.org website in the new future.

The CDS Finance Committee remains hard at work developing other opportunities and services for our members. In addition to managing the newly created SIF grant programs, the finance committee is responsible for CDS operational, publishing and conference budgets and the Linda Sunde Endowment Fund.   Some of yearly activities include the silent and live auctions at the annual conference, fund raising for the Linda Sunde Endowment and making award and scholarships funding recommendations.  If you are a new or slightly more mature CDS member, you should consider joining the Finance Committee. We really would like your help.   If you are interested send an e-mail expressing your interest to one of the Co-chairs of the Finance Committee; Tony Gauvin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Steve Jeanetta  (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), or John Gulick (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).      

 

 

By Leslie Wright, Orton Family Foundation

Not unlike most town plans, the Essex, Vermont, Town Plan was 280 pages long, mostly text with an occasional chart or graph. Not exactly a page turner.  When it came time to revise the plan, city officials decided to give it a makeover, and they looked to Community Heart & Soul™ for inspiration. 

Heart & Soul of Essex was a two-year project that officially wrapped up in 2014, though the organization continues to work for positive change in the community. Community Heart & Soul is a resident-driven community development method developed by the Orton Family Foundation that focuses on engagement from a broad and deep representation of a community. 

The 2016 Town Plan has a whole new look.  It’s less than half the size at 124 pages and features color photos, sidebars and graphics. The online version features links out to further documents and policy, which helped trim the document.

Content was revamped, too. The Heart & Soul of Essex vision statement and six Heart & Soul value statements are included. The first chapter is devoted to an action plan with goals, time frames, and cost estimates spelled out. In the old plan this section was buried at the back, without as much detail on delivery.

The plan won the Vermont Planners Association 2016 Town Plan of the Year award.

“Hands down, everybody thought it was far and away the best,” said Shanna Saunders, president of the New Hampshire Planners Association, the group responsible for judging plans. “The extent of public outreach they did really wowed people.”

In rethinking what a town plan could be, planners turned to the precedent and the plan created by Heart & Soul of Essex. 

 “We wanted to make the town plan distinctive, to make people feel they were a part of it,” said Dana Hanley, director of community development. “We wanted to do something really different that would make people actually read it, because everyone always tells us they never read the town plan.” 

Heart & Soul set a precedent for community engagement that meant both planners and residents were receptive to a participatory process, said Liz Subin, coordinator of the Heart & Soul of Essex. Planners held a photo and art contest to collect images for the plan and held meetings in neighborhoods to gather input.

“They really saw the opportunity for the plan to be something other than one that historically sits on the shelf, that nobody interacts with,” Subin said. “If it was a vibrant, living thing it could help them do their jobs and help the community feel more connected, and this plan does that.”

Best of all, Hanley is now hearing from residents who are reading the plan.

Here's a link to a video about the plan: https://youtu.be/IdkGJ30jvNg

 

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There is no other way to begin this column but to pay tribute to the innocent victims of the horrific act of violence that occurred early Sunday morning in Orlando, Florida, USA. Forty-nine people lost their lives and another 50 were injured when a man opened fire on a nightclub. My heart goes out to the victim's families and loved ones, as well as everyone else that is struggling to find peace and comfort. Personally, I’ve found a need to step back from the various news outlets and social media venues, as so many of the news articles and social media conversations seek to further polarize rather than unite our society.

However, a blog post by Billy Shore (founder and executive director of Share Our Strength and chair of Community Wealth Ventures) really struck a chord. In “Bearing Witness: Orlando and the Imperative of Rededicating Ourselves to Mission and Humanity” (http://billybearingwitness.blogspot.com/2016/06/orlando-and-imperative-of-rededicating.html?platform=hootsuite), Shore notes that many leaders feel that their own efforts are “almost trivial or irrelevant in the context of what has happened.” However, he encourages us to “rededicate ourselves to our mission and to humanity.” Shore references a speech by Robert F. Kennedy (http://tinyurl.com/mxhstby), given the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in which Kennedy addresses not only violence involving bloodshed, but “another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly, destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is a slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.” 

While horrific acts of violence involving bloodshed such as the Orlando nightclub shooting can create an overwhelming sense of helplessness and hopelessness, it’s important for us to remember that our work as community problem solvers, peacemakers, and capacity builders serves an important purpose as our world continues to work towards unity, tolerance, and peace. Let’s rededicate ourselves to our mission and to humanity.

 

May we all find peace.