ECD

Community Development & Community Celebrations: Much More than a Parade

In the community where I live, the Fourth of July is a big deal. The biggest deal, really, in terms of our community celebrations. For a full week leading up to the big day, we have all sorts of events and activities - all culminating in a parade on the afternoon of the Fourth.

Those of us who take part in these sorts of community events - festivals, parades, etc. - probably have a strong sense that these occasions are not just neutral events, but rather have an impact on our community. I recently ran across an academic paper that presents some research that confirms and documents that notion. Gianna Moscardo with the James Cook University Department of Tourism in Queensland, Australia wrote a report entitled, Analyzing the Role of Festivals and Events in Regional Development. It was published in Event Management (vol 11, pp 23-32).

The economic impact of festivals has been pretty well documented. Moscardo takes a different perspective, compiling several additional findings from 36 case studies. Here is what she learned about potential positive and negative impacts:

Economic Impact

• Positive: income, multiplier effect from visitor spending, employment
• Negative: increased prices for locals, opportunity costs

Tourism

• Positive: enhanced image as a "destination," extension of the tourism season
• Negative: risk of reputation damage

Physical

• Positive: new facilities and infrastructure, regeneration of rundown areas
• Negative: environmental damage, overcrowding, congestion

Sociocultural

• Positive: social opportunities for locals, improved social networks
• Negative: commodization of culture, antisocial behavior, dissatisfaction with event image

Psychological

• Positive: enhanced sense of community, excitement and pride
• Negative: conflict

Regional Development

• Positive: enhanced skills for volunteers and participants, support for other regional products and services, development of partnerships and alliances
• Negative: conflict with other regional activities

New Local Government Podcast: A Non-Binding Recommendation

Here is a new podcast from Purdue University Economist Larry DeBoer. The topic is A Non-Binding Recommendation. It is available in both mp3 and wmv formats.

Local Budgets & Circuit Breakers Program Now Online

The On Local Government program from June 26, 2008 is now available online for viewing. Here is the link. The handout is available here.

eXtension & ECD in Joe

Posted by Laura Hoelscher

The June issue of the Journal of Extension (JOE) features articles on eXtension and other technology-mediated ways to help us reach our audiences. Check it out here.

"Extension's Role in Bridging the Broadband Digital Divide: Focus on Supply or Demand?" should especially interest ECD educators.

New Local Government Podcast: A Tax Echo for 2009

I'm a little late getting this posted but here is Larry DeBoer's Capital Comments podcast for May 28, 2008. The topic is A Tax Echo in 2009. It is available in both mp3 and wmv formats.

Supporting Materials for the June 26 On Local Government Program

The following are materials to support the On Local Government program with Larry DeBoer scheduled for 2-4:30 pm (EDT) on Thursday, June 26, 2008. Included below is the PowerPoint presentation Larry will use during his talk, a handout, discussion questions, and an evaluation form.

Along with the multiple viewing stations across the state, the program can also be viewed online via live video streaming. To access the online version, click here at 2 pm EDT. If you are viewing online and have questions during the program, please email them to me. Larry will get to as many questions as possible. The program will also be archived for online viewing later. That URL will be provided when it is available. Here are the supporting documents:

• Handout
• PowerPoint
• Discussion Questions
• Evaluation Form

Zoning & Entrepreneurship

Lots of businesses get started out the home and its important for home-based entrepreneurs to understand the zoning laws and what to do if they would like for some of those laws to be changed. Here are some suggestions from Entrepreneur Magazine. The entire article can be found here.

If it's illegal to operate a homebased business in your city or county, there's something you can do to change things. Following are some steps you can take to change the zoning laws in your area.

1. Establish a committee of home-based business owners willing to stand up and be counted. Get mentally prepared for criticism from every corner and the chance that your business could be shut down.

2. Find out what the zoning regulations are in neighboring communities, particularly those similar in character and size to yours. If operating a home-based business is legal in these areas, it could lend credence to your arguments. If no communities in your area have enacted such an ordinance, contact a city with characteristics similar to yours that has even if it's not nearby.

3. Contact your zoning department to see if it has received complaints about illegally operated home-based businesses. Depending on your findings, you could use the results to prove that home offices are quiet and don't cause problems or to pinpoint a need to legalize home occupations and free up zoning inspectors to handle more important infractions.

4. Do your research. Get local and national statistics on how many entrepreneurs are working from home; describe who they are and what types of businesses they operate. If possible, find out how many people in your community have business licenses, what their average annual sales are, and how much local, state and federal taxes they pay. This will allow you to present data showing home-based business owners as people contributing to the economic foundation of the city. You might also want to highlight anyone who is the only local provider of a particular service.

5. Once you've assembled a research arsenal, use this information to build a coalition that will support a home occupation ordinance. This committee should include home-based business owners, major corporations that use the services of home-based consultants, government officials, homeowner's associations, labor unions, the head of the county zoning department and anyone else with a vested interest.

6. Remember, your goal is to educate first and then mobilize the community to support home-based entrepreneurs.

Doing Good by Eating Well: The "Pod Commisary Model"

A Vermont diner that focuses on buying and serving local foods is working toward a "pod commissary model" in which a "pod" of five restaurants share purchasing and preparation by a central commissary that makes purchasing, delivery by farmers, and initial processing much more efficient than if each restaurant did it alone.

When applying the multiplier effect of these dollars spent, it is estimated that the $1,200,000 spent by a 5-diner pod in local agrarian communities would translate into an economic impact of approximately $6,000,000 annually, encourage other farm and distribution-related services to be created.

Great Economic & Community Development Articles in the Journal of Extension

Submitted by Laura Hoelscher, Editor, Journal of Extension

During his presentation at the ECD Retreat last week, Chuck Hibberd referred Nebraska's Red Carpet Service program. You can read all about, "Red Carpet Service--Linking Rural Communities to Travelers and Tourists" in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Extension (JOE).

And the April issue of JOE also has a few articles that may interest you, including another article on rural tourism and one on building entrepreneurship and leadership in rural communities. Check it out here.

Local Food Purchase Policy

In 2006, The Woodbury County (Iowa) Board of Supervisors passed a "Local Food Purchase Policy" that required local government departments to purchase locally-produced foods. The goal was to increase local demand and spur economic growth in the county. A copy of the policy may be found here.